Breaking Point
by EmbraerERJ195
Summary: Ozzie's over protective parenting is becoming a major problem with Heather. Read and see what happens when their relationship is put to the ultimate test. HeatherXAlex OzzieXJessica.
1. epilogue

**Epilogue**

Heather and Ozzie's relationship has suffered constant strain throughout Heather's life. With Heather constantly being embarrassed by Ozzie's annoying **_playing dead_** routine, being constantly over dramatic, and Ozzie's persistent overshadowing wasn't helping their over strained relationship. After 16 years, it was only a matter of time until this volatile cocktail exploded. Soon after the movies adventure ends, a new set of adventures and challenges begin. See what happens when their relationship is put to the test under heavy circumstances, and unexpected changes. Will their relationship survive?


	2. Rising Tensions

**Rising Tensions**

It has been only a few months since RJ has joined the group and tensions between Ozzie and Heather are rising. Today was a big day for heather. The raid today was going to rely mainly on her. She would provide the distraction by scaring the crap out of a human, while everyone else proceeds to the main objective. Of course Ozzie was very worried, but Heather wasn't going to let him get in the way of proving herself to the rest of the group. As the sun began to rise, who could wonder what surprises a new day could hold.

As the sunlight began to warm Verne's shell, his tail began to shake as usual when it was RJ's turn to plan a raid. RJ woke up and reached towards the sky. Then the two met in their meeting area to discuss business.  
"What are you doing?" Verne asked.  
"Oh just stretching. Boy, I love waking up to see one of my brilliant plans in action." RJ admiring his own brilliance.  
"Congratulations you've just lost even more of my respect." Verne says in disgust.  
"If I had a cookie for every time you said that, I'd be as big as Vincent right now." RJ replies.  
"Whatever. Anyways, if we are going to do your plan..._yawn_... then we need to do it now while the humans are just waking up. What is your plan by the way?" Verne warning RJ.  
"Well, Heather is going to scare one of the humans while we retrieve the food. Simple. This is Heather's day to shine!"  
"Are you sure this is as simple as you say?"  
"Verne, when has something ever gone wrong with one of my plans?"  
"Are you seriously asking me that? Hmm let me think...Oh yeah. Just about every time!" Verne shouted.  
"Yet we always succeed. Just wake everyone up one so we can start this." RJ ordered.  
While Verne wakes up the rest of the family in the log, RJ attempts to wake up Ozzie hanging from a tree branch. "Hey, Hey Ozzie wake up. I need you to wake Heather up because I need to talk to her. She will be playing a major part on this raid." RJ says poking Ozzie in the chest.  
"Alright, I will get her."

Ozzie dropped down from the branch and began to set up breakfast for him and Heather. Although Heather was 16 years old, Ozzie still treated her like a very young girl even though she requested that he stop several times. Performing his normal morning routine, Ozzie gathered soft grass and made a pile for Heather to sit on next to a flat tree stump. Ozzie takes a step back and makes sure everything is perfect. Once satisfied he heads back over to get Heather. As he reaches up to gently grab her, he braces himself knowing Heather will probably lash out at him as usual.

Ozzie wraps his arms around Heather and gently pulls her down from the branch. As he starts carrying her over towards the flat tree stump, Heather wakes up and realizes that her father was still insisting on treating her like a child.  
"Dad, what are you doing?" Heather questioned.  
"So you've woken up finally?" I was just carrying you to breakfast. Everyone else is waking up." Ozzie replied.  
"Put me down, Now! GEEZ!" Heather yelled.  
"What's wrong?"  
"Why are you always doing this?" Heather argued.  
"Doing what?"  
"You are constantly treating me like a child."  
"No, I am just trying to be a good father." Ozzie trying to keep things under control.

Verne and the rest of the family just watched the two argue yet again.

"Gosh, I am so sick of you! You are always around me! No matter where I go, I can't get away from you!" Heather yells in a hateful voice.  
Ozzie was at first stunned by Heathers harsh words, but again tries to calm the argument down. "Heather you really shouldn't talk like that." Ozzie stops and looks into Heathers fiery blue eyes. "OK, I see what you want. I will leave you alone until the raid that is in 25 minutes."

Ozzie kissed heather on the forehead and walked off in the forest. Heather just wiped her forehead in anger, then she went into the TV area of the log and slammed the door behind her. RJ began to follow Ozzie into the forest but Verne just held him back and instructed him to wait things out.

"Jeepers this is getting out of hand." Penny exclaimed.  
"I should really go after Ozzie, I am getting worried about him. I mean she fusses at him, but yet he just calmly strolls away." Stella explains.  
"Yeah and I will go talk to Heather." Hammy chirped.  
"You guys, lets just let things roll over. Things will get better soon. I hope." Verne reassuring everyone.  
"I don't think Ozzie is doing too well. He gets yelled at and just walks off." Said Stella  
"He will be fine, now everyone gather around, I'll go over the mission." RJ trying to change the subject.  
"Yes, we are all DYYYYYYYYYING to learn about your plan." Stella says sarcastically.  
"I thank you for your enthusiasm."  
"Just get to the point."  
"Anyway, Heather will be the distraction for this one. I've seen how humans freak out when it comes to small animals. So Heather will freak her out while everyone else grabs what they can. Yeah, this is a good plan." RJ explained  
"Good plan? You know for a raccoon you can come up with some pretty basic plans." Stella says poking fun at his simple plan.  
"Basic or not, we are still doing it."  
"Don't worry Stella, I don't like it either." Verne says  
"Uhm excuse me, I'm standing right here."  
"I know. Lets all get ready, we head out in about 20 minutes."

After about 15 minutes, Ozzie came out of the forest and found a soft patch to lie down on and stare at the clouds.

"Hey Verne I'm really worried about Ozzie. Whenever he runs into trouble he just walks off all on his own." Stella sounding increasingly worried  
"Listen, I noticed after he lost his beloved mate he got real depressed. Maybe, he feels that Heather is all he has left. If that is true, then he needs to realize that Heather is growing up and she will need more time alone." Verne explained.  
"So what do you suppose we do, it's only a matter of time until this spirals out of control.  
"I think we should do something to, but I feel as if things are about to take a wild turn."

Another anxious 10 minutes passed. Heather eventually came out of the TV area, and began talking to RJ about the raid. Ozzie continued to lie in the grass just staring at the sky.

"Hey Ozzie get up its time for the raid. Ozzie do you hear me. Ozzie. OOOOZZZZZIIIIEEE." Verne Yelled  
"Huh wha?" Ozzie jumping out of a daze.  
"Ozzie are you sure you are OK?"  
"What do you mean? I feel A-OK." Ozzie reassuring Verne.  
"Well, you do remember the plan right."  
"Sure."  
"Alright come join the rest of us, it isn't healthy to always be by yourself."  
"Alrighty then."  
"OK everyone, head to the backdoor, I made sure there were no dogs. Heather you come with me." RJ commanded.  
"Be careful sweetie." Ozzie cried  
"OK dad, I love you." After a slight hesitation, Heather gives Ozzie a hug and within an instant RJ and Heather were gone around the corner.  
"Ozzie don't worry she will be fine." Penny reassuring.

RJ lead Heather and gave her a quick pep talk to keep her calm. "OK Heather just do as your father showed you." At that moment the Human's (who will remain nameless) alarm clock rang, right on time. RJ headed backdown and got everyone in position. As the human apporached Heather she knew it was up to her. Before Heather could act, the human stopped and headed back into the room. Heather decided to remain at her post to make sure the human didn't return. After about 20 minutes, the family had retrieved pretty much all of the food they needed, and were finishing up. Verne decided to go ahead and head out before the human showed up again. "Alright guys we are doing great, let's go ahead and head out. RJ go get Heather." Just realizing that Heather was alone, Ozzie drops the cookie he was carrying and he sprints off trying to catch up to RJ. Verne was stunned to see Ozzie suddenly run off. "No, Ozzie, where are you going."

RJ quickly finds Heather diligently watching the door where the human was. Before he could speak, Ozzie slams into him at full speed. "Ahhh...Ozzie what the..." "Sorry, Heather are you alright." "Yeah, the human went back in there some time ago and I..."Suddenly the door flies open and the human walked out and headed straight for them. RJ yelled out "RUN" and the three scramble back towards the kitchen right before the human sees them.

Back in the kitchen, the family had just begun heading through the door as the three scrambled into the kitchen. Verne was immediately concerned. "What's going on?" RJ just yells back "Just RUN" as the human enters the kitchen and is stunned to see so many animals in her home. Heather knew it was up to her to save the day so she charged directly towards the human. Heather stops just feet in front of the terrified human, but before she can play dead, Ozzie grabs Heather and Jerks her back. Without hesitation, Ozzie started his playing dead routine. **_"Lights fading, Limbs growing cold.". _**The human quickly fainted in fear, while the rest of the family quickly fled.

Back at the hedge. The family congratulates Ozzie for again putting his life on the line. While Ozzie was enjoying appreciation from the rest of the hedgies, he failed to notice his daughters.  
"Wow Ozzie, that was amazing." RJ congratulating Ozzie.  
"Yeah you totally knocked that human out cold." the porcupine triplets squeaked.  
"Hey where's Heather?" Stella asks concerned.  
After a quick look, Hammy notices Heather walking slowly with her head down. "There she is! There she is! I found her!"  
"She looks angry."  
"I'll talk to her." Ozzie reassures.  
"Wait a minute I don't think that's such a good idea." Verne Warned.  
"Don't worry."

"Hey there sweetie, you seem a bit mad. Talk to me." Ozzie wondering  
"Dad, why did you do that?" Heather fussed.  
"What do you mean?"  
"That was supposed to be my big moment."  
"I was just trying to keep you safe."  
"I don't need you trying to protect me all the time."  
"But I was jus..."  
"Dad I hate you!"  
Suddenly Heather felt Ozzie's warm body press up around hers.  
"Sweetie no matter what you say I will always love you. I'm sorry I just got worried. I was so excited to see you use what we've practiced for so long..."  
"So why did you stop me, I was ready to..."  
"Heather I know you are ready from our years of practice, but when I saw your size compared to that awful human I was terrified."  
Heather stopped and thought for a minute. "_**sigh**_Dad I'm sorry, I will don't hate you. I always loved you."  
"You need sometime time alone."  
"Well maybe we could watch some TV together." Heather suggested  
"That sounds like a good Idea."

Everyone was surprised how quickly the argument died down. Heather and Ozzie watched TV together, and eventually Heather fell asleep against Ozzie's warm chest. At least for now things have seemed to calm down.


	3. A Stranger

**A Stranger**

Heather and Ozzie were arguing and making up more and more often. Ozzie was having trouble dealing with the fact that his daughter was growing up. When a stranger shows up and makes moves towards Heather, Ozzie's Protective skills may or may not inadvertently push their relationship over the edge.

* * *

A few days after the somewhat successful raid RJ, Ozzie, and Tiger were walking in the forest just enjoying the beautiful weather and talking. Suddenly Ozzie notices something white sliding down a nearby tree.

"What was that?" Ozzie shouted  
"What was what?"  
"I could have sworn I saw something sliding down a tree?"  
"What, are you going to play dead?" RJ says being smart.  
"Hee hee hee." Ozzie laughs sarcastically."Shut up. I'm going to check out what that was. Hey is anybody over there?" Ozzie shouted  
"Who said that? A voice shouted back."  
"Over here, show yourself."  
"Uh...OK."

After a moment, a teenaged opossum slowly emerged from behind the bushes with a Pringles can strapped to his back with sharp objects sticking out.

"Who are you?" RJ asked.  
"My name is Alex, and you?"  
"Well my name is RJ, this is Verne, that's Tiger, and this is Ozzie."  
"Ozzie?" Alex asks taking an interest in another opossum.  
"Uh yes, what are you doing out here?"  
"Well. I'm 17, and I am an adventurer. I left my family because they bored me. I just can't stay in one place for too long." Alex explained.  
"Interesting."  
"Who are you?" Alex directing his attention to Ozzie.  
"Why?" Ozzie trying to divert Alex away.  
"Well come with us to see the family." RJ breaking the tension.  
"No." Ozzie nudged Verne.  
"What's wrong?"  
"Huh never mind."

As they walked back to the hedge. Alex continued to ask Ozzie questions, trying to learn more about him. At the same time Ozzie was fearing that he would harm Heather. Ozzie could only wonder what the future could hold.

Immediately when the group of guys return, Verne calls the family out into the clearing to introduce Alex. "Attention, Attention Everyone. Please come on out, I have a surprised." Verne announced.  
"I hope you have a good reason for waking me up from my nap." Lou shouted  
"OK calm down everyone. Now that I have your attention I have a surprise for you."  
"Surprise, I love surprises!" Hammy jumping with excitement.  
"RJ, Ozzie. You can bring him out."

Everyone fell silent as Ozzie and RJ brought out Alex blind folded. Ozzie couldn't help but notice Heathers excitement. RJ took the blind fold off Alex. He was surprised by the size of the family and began to contemplate leaving until he noticed heather. He couldn't help but stare at her beautiful sapphire blue eyes.

"What's your name?" Heather asked barely containing herself.  
"Uh my name is Alex."  
"Go on tell them about yourself."  
"Hmmm, where to start. OK I came from quite a large family. I had six sisters and three brothers. I was the middle child, I can't really remember their ages. As I was growing up I was always obsessed with adventure. My parents were constantly telling me that I should stay around my home. Luckily on my 16th birthday my parents told me I could leave the family. So I just packed a few things and left. I wandered around for about a year just having fun. I have run across some friends, but not for a while."  
"So your 17?"  
"Yes."  
"If you stay with us you will find a lot of adventure. We mess with these humans and..." Heather trying to persuade Alex to stick around.  
"HUMANS. Oh my gosh I've heard so much about them. Can I see one up close?"  
"Yeah right behind Steve" hammy chirped  
"Steve?"  
"He means that hedge."Verne explained  
"Uh, will you be staying with us?" Heather asked  
Alex hesitated for a moment. "Uhmm...Sure why not."  
"Well come with us, it's lunch time we can enjoy some human food."  
"Human food, well I guess something new is OK. I've eaten nothing but berries for months."

The family moved back to the log crowding around Alex trying to ask him questions. Verne turned back and noticed Ozzie looking upset.

"Hey what's up Ozzie, you seem kind of down. What's wrong?" Verne trying to get the situation.  
"Come on it really obvious." Ozzie explains  
"Is it something with Alex?"  
"Yes!"  
"Oh come on give him a chance. He hasn't done anything wrong yet."  
"Come on think about it, Heather is 16 and Alex is 17, there both possums..."  
"You're afraid they might fall in love."  
"Yeah."  
"Well, I may not know what you are feeling because I am not a parent, but you do have to realize that Heather is growing up. She is 16. She needs her own space. I mean for a teenager she seems to be doing well on account of the fact that she doesn't socialize a lot with friends her age. In my opinion, you seem a bit over protective."  
"How dare you. Criticizing my parenting skills. I need to be alone."  
"No, go sit at the log and just talk."  
"No." Ozzie getting furious  
"I am not asking you." Verne grabs his arm.  
"Let go of me."

Ozzie slaps Verne forcing him to let go, he then turns and runs off into the forest. Verne stood stunned and speechless. Meanwhile, at the log Heather and Alex were becoming really good friends. After that, Heather and Alex spent the rest of the day playing Auto Homicide 4 and Mercenaries 2 on the Xbox 360 RJ raided from the humans. Verne decided to just keep the incident a secret. Later that night Ozzie returned and noticed that Heather and Alex were sleeping on the branch pretty close together. Almost touching. Ozzie began to grit his teeth in anger. He was trying to resist the urge to punch Alex. Instead, without thinking he jerks Heather down from the tree.

"Ahh what tha. Dad what happened" Heather yelped  
"Oh, you must have just fallen. You OK?"  
"Uhh...Yeah." Heather said wiping the dirt off of her stomach.  
"Well you just go back to sleep"

Heather kissed Ozzie on the cheek, and tried to hang on the branch next to Alex, but Ozzie moved between them. In the middle of the night Verne noticed Penny up wandering around.

"What are you doing up so late?"  
"Jeepers you scared me. Quillo was having a nightmare so I put him back to sleep." Penny explained  
"I really need to talk to you."  
"What is it?"  
"It's Ozzie."  
"What, he always seems down?"  
"That's just it. Earlier today I asked him what was wrong, but somehow we got into an argument and he winded up slapping me." Verne explained.  
"Oh dear, what do you say we do?"  
"I think we need to hold him down and have a serious talk."  
"Hold him down?" Penny questioned  
"He might lash out at us."  
"Calm down. Ozzie is sweet and would never do something to hurt us." Penny trying to reassure Verne.  
"He just slapped me! I just said that he might be a little overprotective and he slapped me! What do you think he will do if we have a serious talk...I don't even want to think about it."  
"Verne, you're making him seem like some beast. That's not anywhere close to the Ozzie we know and love.  
"I'll have to sleep on this one. Well let's have a family meeting about it tomorrow. Well goodnight."  
"Goodnight."

As Verne headed into the log, he could only wonder what the future had in store.


	4. Intervention

**Intervention**

Just before the sun began to rise Verne and Penny woke Stella, Tiger, and RJ. They all met in the clearing for a very urgent family meeting.

"Verne you'd better have a good reason for waking us up this early." Stella called out.  
"I have woken you all up this early because we have a very serious problem." Verne announced.  
"Oh come on, everything is fine right now, I mean we have a new addition to the family..."  
"That's just it. I don't think Ozzie realizes that it is nearing the time when he must let Heather go. She is falling in love with Alex. I think if Ozzie figures that they like each other's, he might hurt Alex." Verne explained  
"Oh come on, Ozzie would never hurt anyone."  
"Well, Ozzie slapped me when I tried to talk to him."  
"I think we just need to have a heart to heart talk with him." Stella suggested  
"What if he resists."  
"Then we hold him, we have let these problems come and go for too long. It is now or never. I'll go get him."

Stella woke Ozzie and brought him back to the table. He noticed they were all staring at him looking worried.

"What's going on?"  
"Ozzie listen the family is beginning to worry about you." Verne began to explain  
"Why?" Ozzie said in a hostile voice. Stella and Penny were surprised to hear him speak with such hostility.  
"Ozzie you always seem down. You were very depressed for two months after your wife died giving birth to Heather."  
"Yeah, what's your point?" Ozzie was becoming impatient  
"After those two months, you told us that you were fine. Yet we've seen you spending more and more time on your own. You slapped me yesterday because I made a small suggestion for goodness sake..."  
"Don't tell me how to be a proper parent you...you..." Ozzie stood up getting ready to fight.

Stella and Lou grabbed him before he could lash out. He took a moment to calm down.

"Ozzie, Heather is growing up. You may not realize it, but she likes Alex, she might even be in love with him. I know you are trying to protect her, but we all think it is best for you to ease off of her."  
"You are all traitors, if he so much a touches Heather I will kill you." Ozzie punches Lou and yanks Stella's arm off of his. He bolts into the forest leaving a highly confused family behind.  
"Oh my gosh Lou, honey are you OK." Penny beginning to cry.  
"Ahh, I think so."  
"Verne what do you suppose we do?"  
"If this continues we either A- Evict him from the family for a month or B- Let Heather talk to him." Verne explained.  
"Well let's just wait and see."  
"No dammit, we have waited long enough. Let's try plan B for now."


	5. Confrontation

**Confrontation**

It was another clear sky as the sun barely began to light up the sky. Heather woke up early and after much thought she decided that she would try to tell Alex about her true feelings. Wild thoughts began to spin around in her head.

"What if he doesn't like me? What if my dad doesn't like him? Is he really my soul-mate? Is my dad going crazy?"

Suddenly a voice called out.

"Heather, I see you're awake." Stella called out.  
"Uh yeah. I can't get to sleep."  
"What's up?"  
"I...I am really nervous."  
"Well. Come with me, we should take a little walk."  
"Uh, Sure."

"So, why are you so nervous?" Stella asked.  
"Come on, you know." Heather says with a smile.  
"Come on Heather tell me."  
"I want to tell Alex that I like him."  
"We all like him."  
"No. I want to tell him that I really like him."  
"Ohh...Oh right. Well if it makes you feel any better, I think you should tell him right after breakfast."  
"It's just that there are so many things that could go wrong."  
"So wouldn't it make more sense to do it on a perfect day such as this?"  
"I don't know. I feel like my dad doesn't like him."  
"Heather don't worry about that. I think he would be proud of you." Stella was a little hesitant in telling the lie.  
"Ok then, maybe it isn't cloudy enough."  
"Now you're just making excuses. Listen. I promise, if you just get this done the future will be great for you. Just think, he might even love you."  
"Do you think so? I mean do you really think so?"  
"You two spend so much time together. It's obvious he has feelings for you. I think the perfect time will be during our daily nap. Don't worry I will be watching."  
"Huh, I am just going to get this done."  
"That's what I am talking about!"

About an hour later the family began to eat breakfast. Ozzie was missing as usual and Heather was unusually quiet towards Alex. Heather had a good three hours to prepare for one of her biggest challenges of her life. Yet it seemed to go by in just mere minutes. About three hours later, before the family headed away for a nap Heather stopped Alex.

"Alex can you skip a nap for a day?"  
"Sure, do you have something you and I can do together?"  
"Uhh no...Wait Yeah, I want you to meet me back here in like ten or fifteen minutes."  
"Uh OK." Alex walked off into the forest.  
"OK heather, remember everything I talked to you about a few nights ago. Just tell him how you feel...  
"A little hungry."  
"You know what I mean, also tell him why you love him. Just sit here and wait for him. Take deep breaths."  
"Alright, I think I am ready."  
"No. You don't think, you have to know you are ready. Now are you?  
"Yes, I know I am."  
"Ok I will be in those bushes. Also I don't want to alarm you, but if the conversation goes wrong I can't help you. Just look deep into your heart and tell him how you feel."

The ten minutes only felt like a few seconds. Heather heard Alex approaching through the bushes. As she turned to confront him she knew there was no turning back.


	6. Breaking Point

**Breaking point**

As Alex approached her, she felt as if everything else in the world has just disappeared. All that was left in the world was just the two of them. Heathers heart began to race as Alex approached her. There was no turning back now, she knew it was now or never. Heather just took a deep breath.

"You needed to talk to me?"  
"Yes, it is very important."  
"I am your friend, you can tell me anything."  
"It's about you and me being friends. I don't want to be friends with you."  
"You don't, why? I don't understand." Alex says deeply confused"I...I...I really like you. Why don't you want us to be friends?"  
"I don't want for us to just be friends because I want to be more than friends. I really love you!"  
"Are you serious?"  
"Yes. I find you so interesting. I've never thought I could have the feelings that I do for you."  
"Heather, I love you. I love your beautiful sapphire blue eyes, I love your bright personality. The way I feel about you now, I have never felt about anyone ever in my life. It is one of the best feelings in the world to be in love." Alex explained as he reached out and grabbed Heathers hand. "I want you to be my soul-mate."  
"I want you to be mine." Heather says as she embraces Alex.

The two stared into each others eyes for mere seconds, and then they both wrapped their arms around each other and pressed their lips against each other as they embraced in a deep passionate kiss. Stella sat back and thought of how all of this was going just right, she couldn't be more wrong. Out of nowhere Ozzie bolts out of a bush heading right for Alex with fire in his eyes. He jerks the two apart, grabs a sharp stick, and stabs Alex in the chest causing him to let out a loud yelp. The family hops out of the log at the sound of the unexpected yelp, and watches the disaster unfold.

"You stay away from my daughter you bastard." Ozzie throwing jabs at Alex's back as he limps off into the forest.  
"Dad, what the F***?"  
"Are you OK sweetie?"  
"Don't call me sweetie! I hate you, no one loves you! Everything was going perfect! You ruined my very first kiss! I wish you never were my father! It is your fault I lost my very first love! I don't ever want to see you ever again for the rest of my life!" Heather yelled at Ozzie with all of her rage.

She looked up and saw tears forming in his eyes. Ozzie dropped her and ran off into the forest. Heather yelled at him again then ran in the opposite direction trying to catch up with Alex. The family stood confused and stunned. Stella couldn't believe how something so perfect, went so wrong. Ozzie ran about a mile then sat down, sobbing. As he sat there crying a soft hand touched his shoulder. He turned around and was stunned by who was standing there looking at him.

**_Their relationship could no longer withstand any more pressure. It had finally reached BREAKING POINT. Their bond as father and daughter had finally shattered into thousands of pieces._**


	7. AFTERSHOCK

**AFTERSHOCK**

As Ozzie sat on a stump sobbing. He began to cry harder as he finally began to realize that his daughter was becoming more and more independent. He knew that it was only a matter of time, until she would no longer rely on him. Then a female possum walks out of the brush and is surprised to see him. She begins to approach him cautiously, wondering why anyone would dare coming this close to humans. Also wondering why he was crying. She lays her soft hands on his shoulder. When he looks up she notices the puddle of tears, and realizes that he had been crying for sometime now.

"K...K...Katherine. Is that you?" Ozzie thinking the female was his wife because she closely resembled her.  
"Who is Katherine? I am Jessica. Who are you?"  
"Oh sorry, you just resemble someone I knew along time ago. My name is Ozzie."  
"If you don't mind me asking, who?"  
"My beloved wife."  
"Are you crying because she left you?"  
"No, she died about 16 years ago."  
"Well, tell me what's wrong."  
"It's kind of a long story. What are you doing out here?"  
Jessica sat down next to Ozzie and told him of her past. "As you already know, My name is Jessica. I was living with my family, then one fateful day these huge yellow monsters, driven by those awful humans tore through our home. A tree fell, and I was crushed under a branch. All I could do was try to yell, but the noise was drowned out by those huge monsters. Thankfully a friend was around to rescue me."  
"I heard RJ rambling on about those before. So what happened after your friend rescued you?"  
"Well we found a nice log to stay in. We stayed there for about five years, making new friends. Then one night, she left and I never saw her again. So I spent about two years searching for her. I lost count of how many times I have almost got killed. I gave up searching about three months ago, and I've just spent all my time trying to gather food. All of my friends that used to live around here have been scared off by the humans. I had a hard enough time convincing them that the humans wouldn't advance pass the line that separates nature and the humans so-called civilization."  
"Well it seems that both of us have had some pretty turbulent times."  
"Yeah, so tell me, as big as you are, why are crying?" Jessica asked confused at his situation.  
"You remember I told you about my wife 16 years ago. Well she died about 30 minutes after giving birth to my daughter, Heather. When she got pregnant I couldn't believe it. I wasn't ready to be a father, but in the last few months of her pregnancy I was becoming more and more excited about raising a child with my wife. The rest of my family agreed to help raise her. I've never seen anyone give birth, but when I watched her, I knew from the start something wasn't right. Th...th...that was one of the most traumatic moments of my life. All I could do was hold her hand watch her twist and roll around in pain. I began to cry, when suddenly she stopped moving. I couldn't believe it. My one and only true love was gone. How could something so beautiful come from something so tragic. I...I'm sorry, I try not to think of her." Ozzie trying to keep himself from crying.  
"Is that what you were crying about?"  
"Well, kind of. Though she is in a better place. I don't think she would be very happy with my actions."  
"Well tell me. You can tell a friend."  
"Friend?" Ozzie looked at her with a mixture of confusion and some excitement.  
"Well, you seem like the type of person I could spend some time with, someone I could get to know better. Anyway what's wrong?"  
"Well you remember me talking about my daughter."  
"Heather?"  
"Yeah. I feel as if she is the only thing I have left in this mysterious world. I admit that I might annoy her quite a bit being a little bit being over protective, but I wish she would realize how important she is to me. I live with a family with other forest animals. About five months ago a raccoon named RJ came around. He seems to have a pretty good understanding of humans. He takes us on these raids into human territory to steal their food."  
"Are they fun?" Jessica seemed excited.  
"Only until he puts my daughter in danger. I mean telling her to go in the path of those monsters. I must admit it is funny watching them freak out, but it's only a matter of time until one of them harms us."  
"Sounds like you have your hands full."  
"Well, things actually seemed to be getting better until another possum about a year older than her stumbled into the family. I could tell from the start that Heather was going to fall for him. When Heather was growing up I always thought that, her finding a mate would be a good thing, but when I saw them together I just got so angry."  
"So that's why you are so sad, your daughter has a boyfriend? My dad was also angry when I had my first boyfriend, but he wasn't like the way you are."  
"It's not only that. I did something terrible. Something that my daughter will probably never forgive me for. Something I can't forgive myself for." Ozzie now realizes the full extent of what he did.  
"Come on it can't be that bad, tell me."  
"Looks like the sun will be going down real soon, can I tell you tomorrow." Ozzie says beginning to climb a tree and settle down for the night.  
"Well fine, if you really insist." Jessica agrees still trying to figure out what was wrong with Ozzie. She reluctantly decides to settle down for the night next to Ozzie.

As Ozzie headed off to sleep watching the sunset, he felt terrible knowing this was the first time being truly separated from Heather in all of her life.


	8. A Tough Decision

**A Tough Decision**

Meanwhile back at the hedge, Heather had helped Alex back to the log. Fortunately Ozzie had done relatively little damage, the stick Ozzie used to stab Alex with was actually quite blunt. The worst of his injuries was a medium sized cut. Verne knew that the family must make a decision about what to do with Ozzie quickly. He called another family meeting in the middle of the night. Though Alex was willing to forgive Ozzie, the rest of the family was still furious with him, especially Heather.

"Ok you all should know why I have called you here, what to do with Ozzie? What he has done is unforgivable. Not only do I believe it is best for Ozzie and Heather to spend some time away from each other, I think it would be best for him to stay away from the whole family." Verne announcing his plan.  
"What? That's crazy. We should stay together as a family." Hammy called out. He looked back at Stella. "Stella, help me. We can't just get rid of him. I am shocked at what he did, but he is family and we always help each other. No matter what!"  
"Hammy, I know how you feel, but maybe...I mean I think he needs to stay away from us, but I don't think just getting rid of him is right." Stella said in a low worried voice.  
"Hmm...How about, wait four or five days, just to let Ozzie and Heather cool down. During that five day period we seriously have to work something out.  
"Well, I don't think this is the right approach to this problem. But then again that seems to be the only plan, so I guess..."  
"Guys I know this seems extreme, but it is the only thing we can do for now. I would really hate to do this, but as soon as he comes back the whole family needs to confront him. Then we will continue from there." Verne going in depth with his plan.  
"Then what happens after that." Stella still questioning the plan.  
"I don't know. RJ in about an hour, try to find Ozzie then bring him back so we can tell him what is going down."  
"I'll go right now, he can't be far." RJ turns and runs in the direction he last saw Ozzie go.  
"Wait RJ. Be careful." Verne shouts in concern.  
"Don't worry, what we just saw was far from the Ozzie we all know and love." With that said RJ runs off in a desperate search

The rest of the family had nothing more to say, and they all walked towards the log to go to sleep for the night. For the remainder of the night everyone remained silent. No one even said: "Goodnight".

* * *

As soon as the sun began to pass over horizon, Jessica woke Ozzie up. Still anxious to hear Ozzie's story.

"Hey, hey Ozzie. It's morning, can you please tell me the rest of the story."  
"If I tell you, I don't think you will look at me the same way. I did something so bad; I am utterly disgusted at what I did."  
"I've been through a lot in my life, and from what I have already heard so far, you have been through a lot to. Tell me and I will try to help. It doesn't seem to be a good idea to combat a problem of this caliber alone." Jessica trying to convince Ozzie to tell his story.  
Ozzie takes a deep breath and tells Jessica about the incident. "Ok yesterday after a walk in the forest, I decided to head back to my family. I crawled through a bush, then I couldn't believe my eyes, Heather was kissing Alex. Just seeing that made me snap. Without any thought, I grabbed the nearest object which happened to be a stick and I stabbed him with it. I threw several punches at him as he limped off into the forest. I...I...I just feel terrible about what I did."  
"Oh my god. You don't seem to be one of the people who would cause harm to anyone else." Jessica was surprised at his violent act.  
"I know. One of the most important lessons I have taught Heather, was that violence is never the answer. I feel that everything I have taught her just went up in smoke."  
"I don't know much about your family, but it seems to me the only thing you can do is apologize. That's sure to help out some. You said that you have been a part of that family for quite some time, I think they would be willing to help. Maybe you should try talking to your daughter, but when you do, try seeing the situation through her eyes."  
"Well, I am afraid to talk to her."  
"Why?"  
"Well, when I tried to talk to her soon after she yelled at me. She said words that I thought she didn't know. The F-word. Where the hell did she learn that word?" Ozzie says as he slams his fist on a flower.  
"Listen...Ozzie...I am not saying that those words are right are wrong, but maybe this is a way for her to show you that she is growing up. Teen-aged daughters are like free spirits, you can't keep them locked up.  
"It's not that I don't want for her to be free, I just want..."  
"OZZIE." Somebody yelled out.  
"Ozzie, did you hear that."  
"Sounds like RJ."  
"RJ?"  
"The Raccoon I was talking about earlier. Come on you should go meet him."

The two head in the direction of RJ's voice. Jessica could hardly contain herself as she prepared to meet someone new.

Ozzie rushes at RJ and immediately starts asking questions. "RJ what's going on? Is my daughter OK?"  
"Uh yeah, she is OK, but she is still furious with you. But we sort of need to talk to y..., who is this?"  
"Oh, this is Jessica. I met her yesterday." Ozzie introducing Jessica.  
"Nice to meet you."  
"Same here. Ozzie, we need to talk to you, Now."  
"What do they need to talk to me about?"  
"Just come, Verne will explain." RJ says trying not to look into Ozzie's eyes.  
"Perfect, an opportunity to apologize. Things should be back to normal real soon." Ozzie gathering what little hope he had left.

RJ felt a sharp pain, knowing that Ozzie's glimmer of hope would soon be shot down. For Ozzie the ten minute walk felt like two. For RJ it seemed like an eternity. When they arrived Ozzie noticed the adults of family was staring at him. Everyone seemed sad, Then he notices Heather who was giving him an angryl look. Before Ozzie got a chance to speak, Verne steps forward and gets straight to the point.

"Huh, Ozzie while you were gone we have all decided it would be best for you to stay away from the family for some time."  
"But why? I came back to apologize. I promise this will never happen again." Ozzie says desperately trying to win his families forgiveness.  
"Ozzie, were scared. You say things are fine, but you have been acting very strange lately. You have even attacked a few of us. I am deeply sorry and we all love you, but as of now the only solution as of now is to just have you leave. Temporarily." Stella explains.  
"Ozzie we all love you very much. Don't make this harder than it has to be." Penny says in a sad voice.  
"But..."  
"Ozzie." Verne pleading for him to just accept their decision.  
"Heather..."  
"Don't talk to me. I will never forgive you for this. I really don't want to see you. For the first time in my life, I can live without you always being around me."  
"D...Do you really mean that?" Ozzie reached his hand out to Heather as tears were beginning to form in his eyes.  
"Dad, just leave." Heather said pushing his hand away with tears forming in her eyes.

Ozzie ran off, still feeling the pain of his daughter's words. Jessica gave the family a confused look, and then ran after Ozzie. As Heather watched her father run off she was struck with heavy sadness. She had finally achieved independence, something she was trying to attain for the past 5 years, Yet she suddenly felt like she was alone in the world. Though she had her boyfriend and the rest of her family, she realized that she just got rid of the person who had devoted 16 years of his life, to raising and protecting her. As Heather sat and thought about whether she had made the right decision, she came to the terrifying realization that she might not be ready to be independent from her father. Her anger and sadness was becoming too overwhelming. She turned and walked away from everyone as tears began to form in her own eyes. Stella noticed and followed her. After about 200 yards, Heather fell to her knees and broke down into tears.

"Heather, what's wrong. You finally got some time away from your father, isn't that what you wanted?" Stella confused.  
"At first I was happy, but now I realized that I love my dad too much to just shove him away. I am still furious at him for what he did, but he has always been there for me, good times and bad...

Heather continued to tell Stella about her overwhelming confusion.

Meanwhile deeper into the forest inside a large cave, Vincent woke up from a long sleep. After realizing his food supplies were getting low, he decided to get more food the easy way. By taking the food from RJ and the rest of the family. To be continued...


	9. Regret

**Regret**

After talking to Stella, Heather went to the log and sat down beside Alex. The rest of the family was still contemplating on what to do next. The situation seemed to be getting worse. While Alex, Heather, and the rest of the family were feeling somewhat sympathetic and thinking of some way to allow Ozzie and his new friend back into the family. They also needed to find a way for Heather to keep her mate with little or no conflict. Verne secretly began to think of a way to permanently evict Ozzie from the family. As Ozzie sat on a rock some long distance away, his anger began to build again.

"It's not fair. I lost my wife for her, wasted 16 years of my life raising her, and now this little bastard comes out of nowhere and just takes her away in a matter of days!" Ozzie complained. "I don't care what happens to Heather anymore. Sh...sh...she can just die for all I care."  
"So that's it? You're just giving up?" Jessica says nearly out of breath trying to catch up to Ozzie." You say that you wasted 16 years of your life raising her, But ask yourself this question. Why did you decide to raise her in the first place? What was it that made you decide to bring her into this world?"  
"Because it was already too late, she was born. I had a responsibility and I just wanted to raise her and get her out of my way."  
"Ozzie, you know that's a damn lie. The way I saw you crying earlier, shows me that you deeply care about her. Maybe I have only known you for a very short time, but I bet that the past 16 years of your life have been a true adventure." Jessica points out.  
"No, for the past three years she has done nothing but defy me. If she really feels that she is better off away from me, then so be it. I don't ever want to see her again." Ozzie concluded folding his arms.  
Jessica rests her paw on Ozzie's shoulder. "Listen you seem like a really sweet guy, I will leave and come back in about an hour when you have calmed down, because you seem like a much nicer and softer person than the way you are talking. I need you to understand that it is very common for teenagers to challenge their parents and act like adults, even though they aren't old enough to take on the world themselves. Heather is in that spot that many teenagers run into trouble. She is too young to start acting like and adult, but at the same time she feels that she is too old to depend on you." Jessica gives Ozzie a soft hug. "Like I said I will be back in an hour or so. Just try to calm yourself down and ignore those irrational thoughts of hatred."

Back at the log Heather and Stella were still talking. Heather realized that she may never be with her father again, and now she was being tormented by confusing thoughts. With the way things were going it was beginning to seem that she would have to make a decision about her father. To leave him forever, or downplay her relationship with Alex. Those thoughts were constantly bombarding her.

"What am I going to do? Even though I hate my dad, I feel really feel bad for him." Heather worries. "Can I ask you something Stella?"  
"Sure what?"  
"I have always thought about this question but...When was the last time you saw my dad truly happy?"  
"Huh...Uh...I mean I really haven't focused on that, but from what I can remember it was your thirteenth birthday."  
"What about the others...?" Heather asks.  
"I mean he was pretty excited about the others, except the last three because you two were always arguing so much. I've never actually talked one-on-one with him. But from my point of view, he has always seemed depressed and miserable. You also need to remember that your birthday was the day that he lost the love of his life. Heather listen I know you really love Alex, but always remember who was there for you first, if you see your dad in the near future try not to give him a hard time. Tell him about how you truly feel, and I suggest you choose your words wisely."  
"I really don't want to talk to him right now."  
"I understand. Things are very confusing right now, but I promise things will get better...I promise. I need to go talk to Verne. Maybe you should go talk to Alex." Stella suggests as she stands up and heads off to find Verne.

While Stella searches for Verne, she runs into Penny.

"Ah penny, I think you and me should talk to Verne. I honestly don't think he is doing enough about the situation." Stella said.  
"I agree, but we don't have any plans either." Penny replies.  
"I know that, but he really needs to change his approach to problems. It's always the same thing when we get into some type of trouble."  
"Yeah, he always talks about how his tail starts to wiggle." Penny giggles.  
"Then he goes on and on about the dangers of stuff he really doesn't know about. Actually when you think about it, we should let RJ handle this one." Stella suggests.  
"I see where you are going, but seriously we really need the whole family to come together, I mean Ozzie and Heather were always willing to help the family. Like the time when Spike went missing for three days. They were willing to go off and help search for him."  
"Yeah, which really sucked when we found out that he was hiding and watching us. Then it turned out that Bucky and Quillo were covering for him. Who knows what they were trying to do."  
"Yeah, I guess we have been through a lot as a family." Penny says with a sense of optimism.  
"I'd really hate to put this point out there, but it's quite possible that this situation may have broken down so far, that any chance of rebuilding is completely gone." Stella says with a sense of sadness.  
"Don't say that, we've been through bad situations before. Especially the time when the humans built that ugly hedge. If it wasn't for RJ and the family coming together, we might not have successfully come out of that one."  
"Let's have another family meeting, we need to start solving this problem, before Ozzie or Heather does something else crazy." Stella suggest.

The two continue to talk as they walk over to Verne.

Stella walks right up to Verne and gets straight to the point. "Ok Verne, this is the way I see it. The situation has already reached breaking point, but yet it seems to be further deteriorating. Not only that, you seem completely clueless about what to do!"  
"I am doing my best to help the situation. The situation just keeps changing. I mean who was that other lady with Ozzie? As of now the only solution I see is to...to...let Ozzie go." Verne says with a low voice.  
"That doesn't make since. Look at Heather and Alex together, just look how happy she is. That's the happiest I've seen her in a long time. There has got to be some way that they can stay together and be happy, while at the same time have Ozzie still be a father figure without any conflicts. Stella says with optimism." We can't fix this problem by staying separating one of OUR family members."  
"Alright, since my old methods are so outdated..." Verne admitted.  
"That's an understatement." Stella interrupted.  
"Guys, we don't have time to be arguing about petty nonsense. Now Verne please continue." Penny intervenes.  
"Like I was saying. Since my methods are so outdated, then one of you come up with a plan."  
"Maybe a few of us needs to go and talk to him. We can no longer just allow him to be alone and depressed. It has been over 16 years since Katherine has died. It is sad, but it is time for him to move on."  
"Right...wait a second. Either I am crazy or did anyone see that lady with him when he came back?"  
"Oh that's Jessica." RJ points out sliding down from a tall tree.  
"Jessica?" Stella asked  
"I don't know, she was just there when I went to get him."  
"So Ozzie freaks out because Heather falls in love, and what does he do? He goes and finds some girl of his own." Stella says with disgust.  
"No no. Let's not jump to conclusions Stella. Who knows maybe she can help." RJ says  
"I guess the only thing we can do now is talk to Ozzie and work out some type of compromise." Stella concludes.  
"Ok, in the mean-time let's focus on Heather." Verne concludes.

Stella walks off to go check up on Heather. While walking she runs into Alex.

"Hey...uh...Stella right?" Alex asks.  
"Yes, you OK?"  
"Well sort of."  
"What is it?"  
"Well I am thinking of asking Heather on a date"  
"Date! Sounds like a good idea, what do you need me for?"  
"Well...um, everything. I don't know what I am supposed to ask her. I don't know how I am supposed to set it up, I don't..."  
"Listen, all you have to do is ask her. I will handle the rest. When do you think the date should be?"  
"Maybe later this evening. I mean we've got plenty of time to prepare."  
"Perfect, just ask her and I will handle the setup along with everything else. Maybe I will get help from RJ."  
"Wait what do I say to Heather?"  
"What do you mean, she confronted you first. You should be able to do the same."

With a quick pat on the head from Stella, Alex headed off knowing it was now his turn to confront Heather.

In the distance Vincent wandered through the forest, desperately trying to catch some sign of the hedge where he might find the family and for his sake, food.


	10. Guardian Angel

**Guardian Angel**

It was an hour since Alex told Stella of his plans to ask Heather on a date. As Alex approached Heather to ask her on a date, he suddenly became aware of the fact that she was still pretty torn up about her father.

"Oh hey there Heather, you OK?" Alex asks sympathetically.  
"I don't know. I am still pretty angry at my dad, but I still love him. He's always been there for me. I mean I still love you, but **sigh**...There just has to be some way for me to be with you, and my dad still be in the family." Heather explains.  
"Well I already told the adults that I would forgive your dad, even though he put me down pretty hard."  
"I just want to keep clear of the situation right now."  
"Well I don't know if you are in the mood, but...well...would you like to do something this evening?"  
"Like what?" Heather asks with a hidden smile.  
"Something like a...uh...date"  
"Really, I would love to spend the evening with you." Heather says giving Alex a soft hug.  
"Perfect I am going to go explore the forest right now but..." Alex holds Heather's hands in his hands and looks in her eyes. "If you ever need anything I am here for you." With that said, Alex walks off to explore the forest being extremely careful not to run into Ozzie. Every minute or so Alex held his breath and listened for any sign of impending danger.

Back at the log, Stella finds RJ.

"Hey there you are, I need your help." Stella says.  
"With what?"  
"Well Alex wants to ask Heather on a date, but I don't want anything to go wrong. Especially like last time."  
"Ok let me finish playing Left 4 Dead 2, then I will help you." RJ says  
"No, you can kill rabid undead humans later. We only have about 4 hours and I want to make this perfect."  
"Fine, fine I'm coming!"

After walking around the forest for about an hour, Jessica returns to check up on Ozzie.

"Ok it's been an hour, are you ready to talk?" Jessica says checking up on Ozzie.  
"I don't know." Ozzie responds  
"Well you can't just sit here for the rest of your life, lying to yourself about your daughter. While I was exploring I thought of one solution. To me it seems that you and Heather are always on two different levels. While you think one way she always thinks the other. In about an hour I am going to head back to talk to your family and see what we can do about this situation."  
"Ok." Ozzie says with a low-weak voice.  
"Are you about to cry again?"  
"I think so. It's just that I don't want to lose her. She means too much to me. I feel like she is all I have left in this unforgiving world. All I want is for her to be happy and safe." Ozzie explains.  
"Listen Ozzie, that can be done. There is a way for you to both be satisfied. You just need to realize that as she grows older, you have got to give her more freedom."  
"But _**sigh**_...I just wish she were a kid again. That has been the only joy I get out of life, at least since my wife died."  
"OZZIE. I am truly sorry that your wife died, but it is time for you to move on. It's been 16 years since your wives passing. You say you want Heather to be happy, but how can she when you are always miserable? You need to find something that makes you want to wake up every day and enjoy life. I cannot...I will not let you continue to destroy you and your daughter's life. You clearly are not seeing how much damage you are doing right now. I am off to talk to your family right now because I don't think you should wait any longer."  
Ozzie stands perfectly still, hardly able to believe that some stranger would go so far to help fix his problem.  
"Oh and Ozzie. I promise if we work together this will be over in a few days." With that said, Jessica heads off to try to deal with the problem.

As Jessica searches for the area where she believed the family might be, she began to think. "How could anyone be so lonely and depressed for 16 years? If this issue is this old, do I even stand a chance of correcting it? Is it already too late?" After about five minutes Jessica finds Stella, RJ, and Penny setting up Heather and Alex's special evening.

"Um excuse me." Jessica says politely.  
"Yes...oh it's you again, how is Ozzie?" RJ jumps out  
"Well that's why I came back."  
"Let us finish setting up and we can talk, it should not take too long. In the mean time you can just hang. Are you hungry?" Stella asks  
"I guess I could eat something."  
"RJ get her something to eat. Stella ordered  
"What the..."  
"Do it!"  
"Fine."

"So what would you like?"  
"Oh anything small."  
"Ok here you go, it's a cookie."  
"Thanks."  
"So how is Ozzie?" RJ asks in concer  
"Not good. I came back to...I don't know, come up with some type of plan. I hate to see someone so sweet suffer."  
"I wish it did not have to come to this. We were just setting up a sort of date for Heather and Alex. We are trying to make it perfect, but this is something that her father should really be a part of."  
"This is difficult. We've just got to get him to be able to trust Alex. Maybe then we can get somewhere."  
"That is a good Idea, but I don't think they should be anywhere near each other for a while."  
"Well Ozzie and Heather should talk to each other..."  
"Listen, I know you want to help, but we can only fix this one step at a time. Right now we are just focused on Heather and Alex. Come on we should get back to Stella and Penny."  
"Ok."  
Before heading back RJ thinks of a quick question. "Hey can I ask you something real quick?"  
"Sure."  
"You have only been around for a day, but you seem so focused on helping us. I am just curious, do you love Ozzie?"  
"No, I mean I just met him." Jessica replies nervously.  
"Does that matter?" RJ asks  
"Can we talk about something else right now?" Jessica snaps back, quickly trying to change the subject. "What about that date you guys were talking about?"  
"Well it's pretty straightforward, we are just going to prepare some nice food and create a nice atmosphere for the two."  
"How long until it happens?"  
"Well the sun is going to be setting in about two hours so I guess an hour and a half."  
"Hmm..."  
"Would you like to talk to Heather?"  
"Yes, but I'll just wait until probably tomorrow." RJ and Jessica arriving back at where Stella and Penny were.  
"Oh hey you two are back. We are just about done setting up."  
Jessica notices the hedge and sees the massive human homes. "I am curious, how can you all live so closed to humans? I mean you live right on the boundary."  
"Oh they are actually very afraid of us. They never come back here and if they do, I learned that all you need is aerosol and some sort of flame and you could probably take Vincent down."  
"Vincent?"  
"Well if there is anyone person to fear, its Vincent. He is this huge bear that harasses us every once in a while. Next time he shows up I'm gonna shove my new weapon right up his ass."  
"Ok then. I'm going to head back and make sure Ozzie is OK."  
"Wait before you go, could you bring some food for Ozzie?" Stella asks  
"Sure."  
"RJ get some food for Ozzie." Stella ordered RJ  
"Fine, it's not like you do any work around here."  
"Whatever."  
"Hey Stella do you think I could talk to Heather, I just want to tell her that her father is OK." Jessica asks.  
"Sure she is right over there."

Stella and Jessica find Heather sitting at the base of a tree alone.

Heather notices the two coming. "Hey, it's that lady I saw with my dad." Heather thought.  
"Hi there, you are Heather right?" Jessica asks with a smile.  
"Yeah." Heather answers, wondering how she knew her name. "Aren't you that lady I saw with my...my dad?"  
"Yes. I was just heading back to see him, but I just wanted you to know that he misses you, and loves you very much."  
Heather just sat still with her arms folded, glaring in the opposite direction.  
Jessica walked up to her and put her hand on Heathers shoulder. "Before I go, is there anything you would like for me to tell him?"  
Still Heather just glared in silence.  
"Ok I'll leave you alone, but he wanted me to tell you that he would hug you if he could."  
At that moment Heather glanced at Jessica with tears in her eyes. "Can you tell him that I still love him too?"  
"I will." Jessica says with a smile

Jessica headed back to get the food and find her way back to Ozzie. When Jessica arrived at the place she last saw Ozzie, she is surprised to find that he is not there and begins to worry. Still unknown to the family, Vincent is lurking in the forests.

* * *

About two hours have passed and it was going to be getting dark soon. By now Jessica has decided to head back to the family and stay with them for the night.

* * *

"Hey there."  
"Oh it's you again. How is Ozzie?"  
"That's why I came back, I can't find him anywhere." Jessica says in a worried voice.  
"Hmm...He probably went wandering around again. One time he just walked off and we didn't see him for about a month. Heather was about seven at the time and she cried almost every day until he came back. Don't worry he will show up sooner or later. You are welcome to stay with us for the time being." Stella suggests.  
"Uh sure, what's going on now?"  
"Well everybody is headed off to sleep except me and RJ. We are going to make sure nothing goes wrong while Heather and Alex are together on this special night. Right now they are just sitting together." Stella says pointing at the two sitting together talking.  
"I guess I'll just stay up with you two."  
"Yeah, no day would be complete without hanging out with me." RJ says arrogantly.  
"You are so full of it." Stella retorts  
"What, style...grace..."  
"Crap is more like it. Anyways, we need to get back to watching Alex and Heather."

The three set up in a tree overlooking the spot where Alex and Heather were sitting together. The young couple sat together talking and watching the sunset. Little did Jessica, Stella, and RJ know they were not the only ones watching the young couple.  
At the same time Vincent was getting dangerously close.

Vincent comes within range of the family and sniffs the air. "Hmm...RJ is close. I can smell him, along with that stupid family he is hiding in. I'd better find him soon, I am really hungry. Now where is..." Vincent walks just a few feet forward and stops as he notices the young couple sitting together. "Who is that? I remember that girl, but not that boy she is sitting with. No matter I will just eat them both, hahaha RJ is going to be so pissed." Vincent begins to creeps forward as quietly as possible.

Just 40 yards away Ozzie is sitting in a bush watching his daughter. As he watched the two sitting so close to each other talking and laughing, Ozzie couldn't help but feel some happiness. Ozzie begins to smile as he starts to realize that all he really wanted, was for Heather to be happy. His instant moment of happiness was suddenly shattered when he notices Vincent moving stealthy towards the two. Back in the tree RJ, Jessica, and Stella's conversation was stopped dead when they also noticed Vincent closing in.

"What the hell is that?" Jessica points out  
"Damn, what the hell is he doing here?" RJ says, surprised to see Vincent  
"Oh my god, we have to do something, I'm going down!" Stella says  
"No, we need to get my secret weapon ready. Quickly!"  
"What about them, we have to hurry!"  
"Come on then!" The three rush back to the log.  
Heather and Alex were just staring into each others eyes when they noticed Vincent towering over them. Alex jumps in front of Heather. "Heather run now," but Heather was paralyzed with fear. Before Alex could try to pick her up and run, Vincent picked them up by their necks. Ozzie watched in horror, not knowing what do.  
"Now listen hear you two, you better go back to where ever you are storing your food and bring it back to me." Vincent demanded.  
"Or what?" Alex says defiantly.  
Vincent tightened his grip around their necks. "Or I will eat both of you. Either way I win, so I suggest you start heading back." Vincent sets the two down and pushes them on to get started gathering food. "Oh and if you even think about telling RJ or the others I will kill you, kill them, and steal your food!"  
At that moment Ozzie knew he could not just stand by and watch his daughter be harassed. Ozzie yelled at Vincent. "Hey, how about you stop messing with them and come over here and mess with me!" When Vincent snapped his eyes directly at Ozzie he suddenly felt his heart sink.  
"Dad!" Heather shouted with excitement and confusion.  
"Shut up! What did you just say...hahaha I could rip you apart, actually that gives me an Idea." Vincent gives Heather an evil smile. "You have just thirty minutes to get me all of your food, or I will rip your father apart right in front of you!" Vincent threatens.  
"If you're going to act tough then come over here and harass me." Ozzie continues to stand his ground.

Vincent begins to stomp over towards Ozzie. As soon as Vincent is just twenty-five feet from Ozzie, a sudden burst of flames shoots out from a nearby bush. "Take that you bastard". RJ had arrived just in time to save Ozzie. Vincent was suddenly blinded by searing hot aerosol-spray. Vincent started roaring loudly, waking up the rest of the family. He began to swing his fist wildly in random directions, trying to hit Ozzie or RJ. As Ozzie prepares to make his escape, one of Vincent's sharp claws strikes Ozzie directly at full force sending him flying through the air. Heather watches in horror as her father slams into a tree and falls to the ground like a rag doll. Vincent runs off into the forest, blindly tearing through trees. The whole family begins to cheer, but quickly goes silent as they noticed Ozzie's body lying motionlessly on the ground. Heather walks over to him to make sure he is OK.

"Hey dad thanks for trying to save me, you can stop playing dead now." Heather noticed the blood pouring from his mouth.  
"Dad you can get up now." Heather shook Ozzie's shoulder, but no response.  
"Daddy please get up." Heather starts to shake Ozzie harder. The rest of the family watches in silence and in sadness.  
"Dad please say something." Tears were forming in Heather's pure blue eyes as she shook her father's motionless body.  
"Dad, dad, DAAAAAD!" Heather yells into the sky.


	11. Realizations

**Realizations**

After a moment of hesitation, the family rushes over to check on Ozzie and Heather. At first no one knew what to make of the situation. "Someone please help, see if he is still alive!", Heather yells. Jessica rushes over and places her head on Ozzie's warm chest and listens closely. After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, Jessica breathes a sigh of relief. "I feel his heart beating, and he is still breathing". Heather lets off a huge sigh of relief with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"So what do we do now Verne?" Stella asked.  
"Uhh...uhh...Let's get him back to the log, quickly and carefully. Lou, you and RJ pick him up by his legs. Stella, you and me will pick him up by his shoulders. Everyone else, go to the log and prepare a small space for us to put him in, MOVE." Verne Commanded.

Without hesitation the family sprang into action. As Heather stood by watching everyone move her father, she couldn't help but blame herself. After the family gets Ozzie settled in towards the back of the log, everyone takes a step back and observe the seemingly lifeless body.

"What now?" Jessica asks.  
Everything plunges into dead silence again until Verne speaks up. "Hmm...It's been a long night, maybe we should all go to sleep for tonight. Ozzie will hopefully be awake tomorrow morning." Verne concluded.  
"So that's it, we are just going to leave him here? He was hit pretty badly and..." Jessica shouted in concern  
"He has been knocked out cold." Verne yelled back. "There is nothing we can do right now but wait and see. Let's just get some sleep and in the morning we will find a solution."  
"You know we can't just wait and see every time something goes wrong. Why can't you get that through your thick shell? It seems like that is all we have been doing lately. Yes, we should get some sleep, but in the morning we will tend to this problem immediately." Stella demanded angrily.  
"Fine then, it's not like any of you have any suggestions!" Verne snapped.  
"Well of course not, you never give anyone else an opportunity to..." Penny retorted.  
"Why the hell are we arguing, we need to help my dad now!" Heather shouted  
"Huh...You're right Heather, I promise you first thing in the morning we will try to wake your dad up. Now let's try to get some sleep, it's really late. EVERYONE NOW!" Verne shouted in frustration.  
As the family exits the log, Heather yells out "Wait, I can't leave him!"  
Stella puts her hand on Heathers shoulder. "Heather, I know you are upset but we will have to deal with this tomorrow. I promise you we will. You can sleep next to me tonight if it makes you feel any better."  
"No, I'm going to stay next to him until he wakes up."  
"Heather you should really..." Stella notices Heathers tears brightly glimmering in the moonlight. "Ok Heather, if you need anything you know where to find me."  
After Stella leaves the log, Heather kneels down next to her dad and tries to make sense of the whole situation. After a while, she is overcome by exhaustion and decides to go to sleep. She kisses Ozzie on the nose and rests her head on his chest and falls asleep. That night Heather woke up every half hour to make sure her father was still breathing.

About half way through the long night, Alex entered the log and sat next to Heather to see how she was holding up. After getting very little sleep and nightmares, Heather was not doing well at all.

"Hey Heather, you got any sleep yet?" Alex asked noticing her hand shaking a little bit.  
"A little, I am too afraid to go to sleep. I mean what if he never wakes up...**_sigh_**...this is all my fault." Heather wiped the tears from her beautiful blue eyes.  
"Heather, what happened was unavoidable." Alex glances down at Ozzie, then back at Heather. "I feel that I owe my life to him for saving mine. I will be with you through this."  
"You will..."  
"Of course I will. I love you." Alex pulls Heather closer towards him.

The young couple sat closely together in silence, gazing at the stars glistening in the sky through a hole in the log until they fell asleep. Even with Alex close by, Heather's nightmares persisted throughout the night.

Early the next morning RJ and Verne were discussing whether or not to proceed with the heist that was set for this morning.

"...I am just saying, a few of us could stay back and watch Ozzie while the rest of us pull this off. It looks like there may only be enough food for today and maybe tomorrow. Crap, I knew we should have grabbed more food." Rj explained.  
"Ok then, but who should we leave behind, we are going to need all the help we can get on this one. Although this would be easier if we'd just hit this house right next to the hedge." Verne suggests.  
"We need to spread out our field of operations. If we keep going to the same house every time, the humans will begin to suspect something." RJ explains.  
"Well then do you have a plan?" Verne questions  
RJ laughs. "Of course, you know how responsible I am." RJ boasts proudly. "They don't call me RJ for nothin. I'm so cunning that I..."  
"You don't have a plan do you?" Verne accuses.  
"I do not."  
"Like always."  
"But we always succeed don't we." RJ points out  
"True, but most times we just barely get by. That's why I set up a plan of my own..."  
"...Ugh..."  
"Just shut up and listen. On the last heist I noticed a wagon in the front of that light blue house next to the hedge. We just need to use that to get as much food as possible." Verne explains.  
"That's your plan." RJ laughs. "That's almost the same thing we did when Vincent was coming to kill me, which I did have a plan for might I add. Just leave the planning to me. Using the wagon is something, but there are a few other things I am worried about." RJ explains. "The house is across the street right, so how are we going to get across without being noticed?"  
"Simple, we will have to leave very soon, you know before the sun comes up." Verne says.  
"What about getting back, we'll be wide open."  
"The only thing we can do is hide in some bushes with the food until all of the humans leave for wherever they go in the morning. I've noticed that they almost always leave at roughly the same time. After that, their homes are pretty much empty for quite some time."  
"So why don't we go then."  
"Because the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can tend to Ozzie. Besides I would rather cross that street once during daylight than twice.  
"I da know. I don't feel right about leaving one of our family members behind for too long, especially if he is in need." RJ worries.  
"That is why we are going to have to leave some of us behind. Only question is who?"  
"Well I know that Heather is going to want to stay and so will Alex."  
"Who else?" Verne questions  
"It will probably be between Stella, Penny or Jessica."  
"We'll figure it out later, let's get everyone up so we can explain what is about to go down." Verne concludes.  
"Alrighty then. Wait, you go and get the family up. I'll go check on Ozzie and Heather." RJ says as he runs to the log.

After a short sprint, RJ arrives at the log and slowly enters. RJ pokes his head in the log and notices Heather resting her head on Alex's shoulder. RJ wakes her up to see how she is doing.

"Heather, Heather wake up." RJ says rubbing Heathers shoulder.  
"RJ, is that you? What is it?"  
"You OK?" RJ asks  
"Hang on." Heather puts her hand on Ozzie's chest to check if he was breathing. To her relief he was. "My dad is still breathing so I guess I am ok. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night because I had to keep checking up on him." Heather explains in a light voice.  
"I know you are tired, but I need you to come with us for a little while, get Alex and meet us outside as soon as possible." RJ says slipping out of the log.  
"Alright then." Heather turns back to Alex and wakes him up.  
"Hey, Alex wake up."  
"Huh, what's going on?" Alex asks yawning.  
"I don't know but just come outside."  
"Ok, you alright?"  
"I think so. You go out and meet the rest of the family in the opening, I need a minute alone. I'll see you outside in a few."  
"Alright." Alex says stumbling out the log.

As Heather begins to leave she walks over to her father again and whispers in his ear. "Daddy, I'm not sure if you can hear me, but I love you and I hope you get better soon." Heather quickly kisses him on his lips and runs out the log.

RJ just arrives at the meeting area with Alex and Heather close behind, as the whole family makes it outside.

"RJ how is Ozzie?" Verne asks.  
"He is fine. Just go on with the announcement"  
"Okay everyone, I know we are all shaken up by last night's events, but we need to stay focused. Because we are running very low on food we will proceed with today's heist as planned. While most of us go out to get the food two or three of us need to be left behind to look after Ozzie. The plan is for us to get the wagon in front of this light blue house. After that, we will roll it across the street to the designated house and go inside to do our usual business before the humans wake up." Verne explains. "The only problem is that when we are finished getting the food, the sun will have risen and it will be too bright for us to get back across the street without being noticed. So we will have to hide in some bushes and wait until all the humans leave and do whatever it is they do all day. I am expecting this to last about 2-4 hours. The faster we do this the sooner we can get back to Ozzie. Any questions?"  
"Yes, who is going to stay behind?" Stella asks.  
"Ahh yes. Heather and Alex will definitely need to stay, but either you Penny or Jessica will need to stay with them. Would you like to stay Jessica?  
"I wouldn't mind staying behind, but I've never seen where humans live up close." Jessica says interested in exploring the human's habitat.  
"It will be okay if you come. Now that you think about it Stella might need to be the one to stay behind. I am going to need Penny to keep the triplets under control. What do you say Stella?" Verne asks.  
"That will be fine." Stella replies.  
"So it's settled then. Now come on we are running out of time."  
"Alright you heard him, let's move out." RJ commands.

As the family springs into action Stella calls out to Tiger.  
"You be safe OK Tiger!" Stella says as she kisses Tiger  
"Don't worry about me honey; you just take care of Heather and ..."  
"Tiger come on!" Verne shouts as he hops through the Hedge.  
"Got to go, see you in a few hours."

As most of the family moves through the hedge, Stella takes a moment to think about what to do next. Meanwhile Heather slips away unnoticed.

"Excuse me...uhh...ma'am..." Alex tugging on Stella's arm.  
"It's Stella." Stella replies  
"Oh...Right. Stella, can I go back to sleep?" Alex asks.  
"Sure, you can just go back into the log." Stella looks in the opposite direction and sees Heather lying on the soft grass, gazing at the stars. Stella slowly walks over to check on her. "You okay?"  
After a long pause Heather responds. "I don't know. I remember when I used to watch the sunrise with my dad. That was just so long ago." Heather says in a sad voice trying to stand up.  
"You should go back to sleep. Try not to worry about anything; I'll be up to stand guard." Stella reassures Heather as she walks her over to the log.  
Before Heather enters the log she stops. "Stella, when do you think my dad will get better?"  
Stella hesitates and looks into Heather's eyes. "I honestly don't know Heather, just try to get some sleep for now."

Heather walks into the log and rests her head on Ozzie's chest and dozes off.

* * *

About an hour passes and Heather abruptly wakes up again. Heather pokes her head out of the log to see if the rest of the family had returned, but she only sees Alex sitting in front of the TV looking utterly confused.

Alex notices Heather peering at him so he walks over to check on her. "You're awake, are you alright?" Alex asks in a soft voice as he gently grabs her hand.  
"I don't know. I feel kinda sick, like I want to throw up. I don't know if I'm sick or if this is all in my head." Heather explains in a low voice.  
Alex gently puts his hand on Heathers shoulder "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"  
Heather thinks for a moment and then hugs Alex. "Can you just let me sit here by myself for a while? I am not trying to brush you off, but I need a little more time alone."  
"Ok, anything for you. Just remember that we are all here for you. You have a loving and caring family that will help you feel better." Alex says as he exits the log.  
Heather stops Alex one last time. "Oh wait, I have one last question."  
"Yes."  
"Why were you looking at the TV like that?" Heather asks.  
"Give me a break; I've never seen one of those things before. I am trying to understand why humans are so addicted to that thing." Alex explains jokingly as he walks off.

After Alex leaves the log, Heather drops to her knees beside her father and stares at him for a few minutes trying to think. After a while, she begins crying again and rubs her face on Ozzie's chest. "If I was never born, you would be so much happier."  
Suddenly she hears a faint whisper. "Heather don't say that. You were one of the the best thing that have ever happened to me."  
Heather looks up with her eyes wide open in disbelief to see Ozzie's eyes slightly opened.


	12. A New Beginning

A New Beginning

Heather stood speechless with her eyes wide open, astonished to see her father's blue eyes slightly open peering at her.

Ozzie reaches up to grab Heather's shaking hand. "Heather please stop crying...Arrgghhh" Ozzie yells out in pain.  
"Dad no, don't try to get up your still hurt." Heather cries.  
Ozzie gently settles back down dazed and confused. He looks around and wonders what happened after his confrontation. "What happened? Where is Vincent? Are you ok? How did I end up back here at the log?"  
"You mean, you don't remember?"  
"The last thing I remember was Vincent towering over me. His huge paws came at me, then I felt an incredible amount of pain and then somehow I ended up here." Ozzie explains.  
"Dad you've been knocked out for quite some time. A few hours I think. I thought that you were...uh...I just didn't want anything to happen to you. Why did you protect me?"  
"Because Heather, you mean more than anything in the world to me. Why do I feel like you don't understand that Heather?" Ozzie looks deep into his daughter's eyes. "I know that my instructions can sometimes be annoying, but you have to realize that I won't always be around to say, Heather you really shouldn't try that because it is not safe."  
Heather wipes the tears from her eyes then moves closer to Ozzie and continues to listen.  
"You may not believe it, but I was also pretty defiant towards my parents. My dad always told me to stop swinging from tree branches, but of course I didn't listen." Ozzie laughs a little. "One day I jumped off of a branch, but I didn't jump far enough to catch the next one and I fell and broke my arm. After I recovered I was grounded for a month, but the point is I learned my lesson. I don't want you to get hurt to learn a lesson."  
"But dad, why did you have to put yourself in so much danger? You not only protected me, but Alex too. I thought you didn't like him."  
"Just now when you said I would have been much happier without you, that is not true at all. You are one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I know we argue a lot, but I have come to expect that. You are growing up, so of course you and I are not always going to agree. But you must understand the fact is that I love you, and I will do anything to keep you safe. When I stood up to Vincent, I didn't think about whether or not I would get hurt, my only focus was keeping you safe. Now that I see Vincent is gone and you are safe, I am very happy."  
"I thought that I would never get to tell you that I love you again. I love you dad, and I am sorry about anything I've said before." Heather smiles.  
"I love you too Heather." Ozzie says as he tries to sit up and hug his daughter. "Ahhhhh..."  
"Dad no, remember you are hurt. What part of you hurts anyways?" Heather asks.  
"My whole body hurts. Just let me rest for a while. I promise you the first thing I am going to do when I get up is whatever you want to do, no questions asked."  
Heather smiles and kisses Ozzie. After a moment of staring into her dads eyes she suddenly stopped smiling.  
"What's wrong Heather?"  
"Dad, how do you feel about me and Alex?"  
"Is that what you really want?"  
"Yes, and still be able to hang around you. What do you say?"  
"As long as you are happy, but I am still not completely on board with this." Ozzie stops to think. "I will try and get to know him. So we can become...ya know...friends. Although he may not want to talk to me, at least after what I did to him. If he gives me another chance, I will apologize to him and tell him that what I did was inexcusable."  
Heather smiled at her dad. "Thank you so much daddy. I will talk to him."  
"Anything for you sweetie. Oh one more thing, where is everyone else anyways?" Ozzie asks.  
"We were running low on food so everyone except me Stella and Alex are out on today's Heist."  
"Crap, I was supposed to help on this one." Without thinking Ozzie tries to get up. "Ahhh that hurts."  
"Dad please stop hurting yourself." Heather puts her hand on Ozzie's chest. "They are already gone, but they won't be back for quite some time. Can you just sit still for now, I'm gonna go get Stella."

Heather exits the log and runs as fast as she can searching for Stella.

"STELLAAAA, STELLLAAA WHERE ARE YOU?" Heather yells.  
Stella runs out from the brush at full speed ready to fight. "Heather, what's wrong, are you ok?"  
Heather talks so fast; Stella barely understands what she is saying. _"Yeah come help me find Alex because my dad woke up and he said we can be together and become friends so I can..._"  
"Whoa Whoa Whoa. Heather I can't understand a word you just said. Now calm down and tell me what's going on."  
Heather takes a deep breath. _Inhale_ "Ok...I went into the log to see my dad and he woke up."  
"That's wonderful. Phew." Stella wipes her head. "I thought that your dad was going to...Never mind. Come on lets go see him." Stella grabs Heathers hand and the two start walking toward the log. "So what did you say when you saw him awake?"  
"I couldn't speak at first because I was on the verge of crying again...I thought I would never see his beautiful blue eyes again. I told him everything that happened, then I told him that I loved him and we had a talk about me listening to him." Heather explained.  
"Heather I am not sure if your dad ever told you, but he is not going to be around forever. You should cherish every moment you get to spend with your father."  
"Yeah, he told me as soon as he gets better; he will spend a lot more time with me. He also told me that his whole body hurts so I don't think he will be going anywhere for a while."  
The two approached the log after their short walk. "Well then, I guess that means you two can spend plenty of time together."

The two enter the log to check up on Ozzie.

Stella kneels down and gives Ozzie a hug. "Don't you ever scare me like that again! Jeez I never expected you to do something like that; I mean standing up to Vincent. That's hardcore."  
"There is no way I will ever let anyone threaten my daughter." Ozzie looks at Heather and smiles. "Or my daughters new mate."  
Heather's ears shot straight up in excitement. Stella was surprised at Ozzie's new outlook on Heather and Alex. "Well I'm just glad that you are ok. How are you feeling now, Heather told me you were still hurt pretty badly and can't move."  
"I can't, my whole body feels sore."  
"Well I guess that means you two can spend a lot of time together." Stella suggests.  
"Yeah. By the way, when do you think the rest of the family will be back?" Ozzie asks.  
"Not for some time, they left about an hour ago. I remember RJ saying something about getting the food and lying low for a while. They will probably be gone for another three hours."  
"Ok then, what are we going to do for now. I really want to apologize to everyone, especially Alex."  
"I'm glad you feel that way, but you need to stay here and rest for now. I am going for a walk in the forest, Heather if you need me just yell out. I won't go too far." Stella says as she exits the log.  
Ozzie turns his attention from Stella exiting the log to Heather. "How are you feeling?"  
"Daddy you are the one who is hurt?"  
"Don't worry about me sweetie. All I care about right now is that you are happy."  
Heather puts her hand on Ozzie's chest "I am daddy, I am."


	13. Troubled Past and Further Complications

**Troubled Past and Further Complications**

About an hour passes since Ozzie reluctantly wakes up. Although experiencing on and off pain, Ozzie is more than happy to know that he successfully protected his daughter. Shortly after their little talk Ozzie passes out again. As Heather watches Ozzie settle back down and fall asleep, she leans forward and hugs him. Knowing that her father is OK, Heather is determined to overcome this situation. She rests her head on Ozzie's chest and falls asleep.

About an hour later Heather wakes up to check on Ozzie. To her relief he was sound asleep. She cautiously stepped out of the log, trying not disturb her father. After she steps outside she notices Alex.

"Hey, hey, Alex come here." Heather whispers loudly.  
"Oh hey what's going on?" Alex notices Heather's bright smile. "You seem much happier now then you were this morning."  
Heather quickly realizes that this is the perfect opportunity for Ozzie and Alex to talk one-on-one. "I am, after you left the log my dad woke up. I was so relieved!"  
"That's wonderful!" Alex says nervously.  
"Come on back into the log, just let me wake my dad up so you can talk to him. He has something really important and meaningful to say to you." Heather says as she delightfully skips over to the log. Alex follows closely behind. "Ok, try to stay quiet. He is still in pain." Heather slips into the log and kneels down next to Ozzie.  
Alex comes through the entrance to the log and notices Ozzie. At first he is relieved to see that he is OK; But as he cautiously inches towards Ozzie, he suddenly becomes more aware of Ozzie's size compared to him. Alex reflects on what Ozzie did to him earlier, then quickly runs out of the log.  
Heather started shaking her father's shoulder trying to wake him up, not noticing that Alex slipped out of the log.  
"Huh, huh, what's going on?" Ozzie says waking up.  
"Hey daddy, how are you feeling?"  
"I'm a little hurt, but I'm OK for now."  
"That's good. While you are still here, I need you to talk to..." Heather notices Alex has disappeared.  
"Who sweetheart?" Ozzie asks confused.  
"Hang on, I'll be right back." Heather says as she runs back outside looking for Alex.  
"Alex, why did you leave? Don't you want to talk to my dad."  
"I do...I don't...I don't know. I mean I wanted to at first, but when I saw him. I remembered him attacking me."  
"But Alex, you said you got over that."  
"That's what I thought. I'm sorry, but this might take some time."  
"Please just come and sit down with him. He's really hurt, and it's not like he can do anything. Come on Alex. When I was talking to him he said that he wanted to apologize to you. He's willing to give you a chance, now give him one."  
After a long pause, Alex finally relents and decides to confront Ozzie. "Ok I'll do it, for you. Are you sure he won't hate me?"  
Heather starts pulling him towards the log again. "Trust me, he is very nice. Just get to know him."

As the two enter the log Alex takes a deep breath. Ozzie's ears shot up in excitement, but Alex wasn't so excited. Ozzie doesn't hesitate a second to try to apologize.

Ozzie puts his hand out to Alex, but he flinches. "Alex please just hear me out, I know you must really hate me right now. I wouldn't blame you at all because what I did was completely inexcusable. I have decided that I will not stand in the way of you and my daughter."  
Alex stood completely still.  
"I admit that I did not trust you at all when I first met you; but that was only because I was fearful for my daughters safety. The way you put yourself in danger to protect my daughter shows me that you really care about her, and I thank you with all my heart." Ozzie said noticing Alex's hands slightly trembling. "Is there anything else I could possibly do to make this up to you?"  
Both Heather and Ozzie were staring at Alex, But he remained perfectly still.  
Heather smiles. "Alex say something."  
Alex glances at the exit of the log, then back at Ozzie. He glances at the exit a second time and starts inching towards it.  
"Alex no, wait!" Heather tries to stop Alex, but he runs out before she can get up.  
"Heather this is my fault. I am so sorry..."  
"No dad, let me talk to him. I'll be right back." Heather says getting up to pursue her mate.

Just outside the log Heather finds Alex on his knees in a soft patch of grass.

Heather puts her hand on Alex's shoulder. "Alex what happened?"  
"I...I...I don't know."  
"You said that you were OK with meeting my dad. Alex are you sure everything is OK right now?"  
"Yes...No...I'm just a little overwhelmed right now. I still feel that I owe my life to him for saving mine; But at the same time, I can't get that vicious attack out of my head from that..."  
"Alex, I promise you that he won't hurt you again. He told me with all of my heart that he was committed to making our relationship work."  
"Heather listen." Alex says grabbing Heather's hand. "I love you very much, but it's going to take me some time for me to get over this. I want the best for you, just like he does; but trusting someone who has betrayed me is not so easy."  
"Why not?" Heather asks in desperation.  
"Being an adventure I learned many lessons, some of which almost cost me my life."  
"What happened?"  
"Some time ago, it was just days before hibernation and I didn't have nearly enough food to last me through the winter. I was working every hour of those last few days to get as much as I could. One day when things seemed hopeless I met an Owl named Yusef. He claimed that he was also in desperate search of food for hibernation. We teamed up and quickly gathered more than enough food to last us through hibernation. Over the next few days we just hung out getting to know each other, and I eventually trusted him." Alex lets out a deep sigh. "Soon I ran into problems. As I began to settle down, I noticed that he was quite energetic for anyone preparing for hibernation, but I decided to forget about it."  
"Well what happened after that?"  
"One day I woke up from my bed and headed outside. It must have only been about three or four days in because the vegetation was relatively unchanged. I went to check on the supply of food and it was all gone, not even a scrap. I called out to Yusef, but no response. I searched desperately, but I never saw the food or Yusef again. From then on I knew that I must be wary of anyone knew I met."  
"But you adjusted to our family so well."  
"At first I was wary of your dad, but I was so lonely. So I decided to follow him and the other guys back here. I was planning to leave soon after, but I saw you and I just couldn't."  
"I understand why you wouldn't trust my dad; But he just apologized to you with all of his heart. Can't you see he is committed to peace?"  
After a long dead-silent pause Alex mumbles "You just don't understand."  
"What was that?"  
"I said you don't understand." Alex says louder in frustration.  
"What do you mean?" Heather asks in a softer voice.  
"Of course it is easy for you to just say forgive and forget...  
"But..."  
"No, I don't want to even think of him right now. Jeez how could I have been so stupid to trust him. I guess that beast viciously attacking me is exactly what I deserve for being so careless." Alex yells angrily at Heather.  
"Alex stop, you're making my dad seem like a monster!" Heather yells back.  
Alex started walking towards the forest. "Well, to me he is!" Alex yells back angrily.  
Tears began flowing from Heathers eyes. "Alex I'm sorry, please don't leave."  
Alex turns back and gives Heather an angry stare then continues walking off.  
"Please come back." Heather whispers.

Heather's legs became very numb as she staggered back towards her father. As soon as she stumbles into the log Ozzie is immediately aware of her sadness. "Heather what's wrong?" Heather kneels down next to Ozzie trying to hold back from crying, but after a few seconds she buried her face in Ozzie's chest and let it all out. Ozzie's only had one thought. "This is all my fault."

To be continued...


	14. A Risky Solution

A Risky Solution

Just as the situation between Ozzie, Heather, and Alex seemed to be calming down, a whole new challenge surfaces. Ozzie sits with Heather trying to comfort her over her argument with Alex. Their relationship has once again hit a roadblock. While Heather continues sobbing, holding tightly to Ozzie's chest, Ozzie tries to make sense of the new situation. After a while Heather stops crying.

Still holding on to Heather "You alright sweetie?" Ozzie asks in soft voice.  
"No. I am so confused."  
"Well, do you want to tell me what happened?" Heather did not say anything. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."  
Heather remained silent trying to make sense of what went wrong.  
Heather closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "After I went outside to see what was going on with Alex, I asked him if he was OK. He told me earlier, that he was OK with talking to you, but when I tried to get him near you he became hesitant. I kept asking him to come talk to you, but he wouldn't. I asked him why, then he told me that he could never trust you anymore." Heather stops for a second to take another deep breath and wipe her eyes. "He told me a story about how he was betrayed by someone, and how it almost cost him his life. I still tried to reason with him, but he started to become angry. Even after I told him that you were committed to peace, he yelled at me and walked off. When I tried to stop him he gave me an angry look and continued walking." Heather starts sobbing again. "This is all my fault, I thought he was my soulmate. I thought he was perfect for me, I thought..."  
"Heather listen, none of this is your fault. The anger you saw was most likely directed at me, because of what I did. I know deeply in my heart that he still loves you, and wants to be with you." Ozzie gently rubs her head and smiles.  
Heather stops crying and smiles back.  
Ozzie struggles to stand up and looks deep into her eyes. "Heather I promise you with all of my heart, I will fix this. You will be with your mate, and I will be here for you, always."

With that said the two moved outside and sat together in the warm spring sun. Just the sight of Ozzie struggling to walk made Heather feel guilty. Soon after Ozzie settles down in a soft patch of grass, Heather lies down next to him and stares at the clouds. After about ten minutes Ozzie hears a familiar voice. RJ and Verne having another mini-argument. Shortly after, the rest of the family emerges with snacks in their arms and a cart with food stacked two feet high.

"...Look all I'm saying is that your plans are boring and seem very pointless." RJ points out  
Verne quickly snaps back. "Oh please, you focus so much on making your heist's all flashy and..." Verne and the family halts, stunned to see Ozzie awake and sitting with Heather. After a slight hesitation, the family runs over to give the two a hug.  
RJ shouts in excitement. "Oh man Ozzie I thought you were...I can't believe you stood up to Vin...Ahh man I am so glad to see you are awake!"  
"How are you feeling?" Jessica asks overjoyed to see him awake.  
"I am still hurt pretty bad, but other than that I'll be OK."  
"That's a relief..." Jessica replies.  
"Hey, what's wrong with Heather? It looks like she was crying." Tiger asks.  
Ozzie tries to stand up. "Huh...She was...Not to long ago when...Ahhh!" Ozzie yelps out in pain as RJ and Lou run to help him. Jessica runs behind them and grabs Ozzie's hand.  
"Are you sure you are OK?" Penny asks.  
"I just need to lie back down, it is too painful to stand up."  
"I think we should get you back to that log." Jessica suggests still holding on to Ozzie's hand.  
"Good Idea let's go to the log and we can talk about Heather and...Where is Stella anyway?" Verne asks  
"She was here just before...ouch...I'll tell you when we get to the log." Ozzie says hobbling over to the log with the help of RJ, Lou, and Jessica.

At the entrance of the log Ozzie nudges RJ and Lou away.

"Thanks for helping, but I can make it from here."  
"You sure Ozzman?" RJ asks  
"Yeah, I can take it from here." Ozzie then looks at Jessica and smiles. "You can let go of my hand now."  
Jessica desperately tries to hold back a smile but can't. "Oh. sorry." Jessica giggles.

Ozzie turns, moves into the log and lies down. Quickly the rest of the family gathers around.

"To make a long story short. Less than an hour ago, I woke up beside Heather. She was crying so I talked with her for a good while."  
"What did you two talk about?" Verne asks.  
"I told Heather that things are going to change between us. I also told her that I would relent and allow her and Alex to be together."  
"OK. That's good."  
"Shortly after, she ran off and got Stella. When she came we talked briefly, then she left to go for a walk." Ozzie explained. "After that...I really can't remember what happened right after that..."  
"You fell asleep again daddy, so I went to sleep right beside you. After I woke up, I went to find Alex..." Heather continues to tell her family about the incident. As she told them, her voice became more desperate. "...After my dad told him with all of his heart that he was committed to peace, Alex ran away again. I followed him outside and...and..."  
"What happened Heather?"  
"He...he..."  
"Heather remember what I said, just take a deep breath."  
Heather takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. "When I went outside after Alex again, he told me that he was a little overwhelmed. He told me straight up that he loved me, but he said that my dad betrayed him and he didn't trust him anymore." Heather explained. "I asked him why he didn't trust you. Then he told me about how he almost starved to death because he trusted someone who betrayed him."  
"So why did he trust us so quickly?" Verne asked confused.  
"He told me that he was wary of my dad at first, but he had been lonely for so long he decided to follow you back. He said that he was going to leave, but he decided to stay because he wanted to get closer to me. Again I told him that my dad apologized with all his heart, but he told me that I didn't understand." Heather takes another pause, then begins to speak in a lower voice. "I tried to reason with him, but that's when he got angry. He started yelling at me and called my dad a vicious monster. I really do love him, but I couldn't let him say those things about my dad so I yelled back." Heather began to crying again reflecting on the incident.  
Ozzie gathers the strength to stand up. He hobbles over and puts his arm around Heather, the whole family soon followed. Ozzie held her tightly to his chest. "Heather I am so sorry." After a minute she settled down again. "Heather I know you probably don't want to talk about this anymore, but please tell me about anything else that happened."  
Heather's was still clinging to Ozzie. "He turned and started walking away, so I tried to apologize. I asked him to come back, but he gave me an angry stare and walked off."  
"Oh Heather." Ozzie says in a low voice. "Everyone, I can't tell you how sorry I am. I take full responsibility for all of this..."  
"No dad you don't have to..."  
"No Heather, I have to take responsibility. I deeply apologize for everything that has happened over the past few days. I promised Heather that I would do everything in my power to make things right; But I can't do this on my own. So I ask that you all please help me fix what I messed up?" Ozzie says closing his eyes and holding his daughter tight.  
The whole log is quiet for a few moments. Verne looks back at the family, after a moment he turns back towards Ozzie and walks over to him.  
Verne rests his hand on Ozzie's shoulder. "Ozzie you are a part of this family, and of course we accept your apology. We will get through this together. So let's fix this, right now. No delays, no waiting, right now. Do you think you can move back outside? I think it would be best to move to our usual planning area."  
"Sure, I'll be fine. Let's go sweetie." Ozzie tells Heather as he gathers his strength to head out along with the rest of the family.  
As soon as they arrive, Ozzie sits against a tree with Heather.

For the first time in a longtime the family would come together as a whole.

"So what do you suppose we do?" Ozzie asks  
"I'm going to need suggestions from everyone, I don't really have any experience trying to gain the trust of a teenaged boy I barely even know."  
"To me, it sounded like he was directing his anger and confusion towards me." Ozzie said trying to sit up.  
"So that's it, we need to find a way to get him to trust Ozzie, right." Lou said  
"I don't think he is going to forgive, my dad any time soon." Heather says in a low voice.  
"Heather is right, somehow we need to get him to overcome his fear of Ozzie. If we can convince him that you are committed to peace, everything will be solved and we can get on with life as usual. So with that said, what should we do?"  
"Well you know I think it would be a good idea if we..."

While the rest of the family discussed what to do next, Ozzie closed his eyes and began to daydream. Soon he was in a flashback of a moment with his mom, trying to find the answer to his problem. "Little Ozzie, sometimes when life is stressful you need to close your eyes and drown out all distractions. Focus on what's important and you just might find your answer." Ozzie opens his eyes and whispers to himself. "Thanks mom."  
Heather gives Ozzie a confused look. "You say something?"  
"Let me concentrate for a second Heather." Ozzie closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and began to think; unnoticed by everyone else still discussing what to do. After about ten minutes Ozzie's eyes snapped open. Trying to ignore his pain, Ozzie begins struggling trying to stand up.

"Dad, what are you doing? You are in too much pain to stand up."  
"No, Heather just give me a sec."  
"Ozzie you alright, you don't look like you should be standing or..." Jessica says concerned.  
"Thanks for offering your help, but I have something to say to everyone." Ozzie says as he manages to get to his feet.  
The families discussion falls silent, and everyone's attention turns to Ozzie.  
"Everyone, I am still deeply sorry about what I have done. Especially to you Heather. You have all been a loving family and I thank you for all of the support you have given me. But I have an Idea and I really need you to..."  
Verne speaks out. "But Ozzie, didn't you just hear us coming up with a..."  
"I know, but I think I know how to set things right. I can only do this if you all will trust me."  
"Ozzie what are you talking about? How are you going to set things straight?" RJ asks.  
Ozzie looks down at Heather and pauses for a moment. "I know Alex and I have had a bad run in before; but I think if I go find him and talk to him I might be able to connect."  
Heather was surprised at Ozzie's idea."Dad you saw how he reacted when he saw you before, he is going to..."  
Ozzie puts his finger on Heathers lips. "Heather, I need you to trust me on this one. I need you all to trust me..."  
Heather gently pushes Ozzie's hand away. "Dad I love you; But I don't know about this."  
Verne steps forward. "Ozzie, honestly I have to say that I agree with Heather..."  
"I just need you to trust me..." Ozzie pleads.  
"It's not that I don't trust you, but just think about what your saying. From what I am hearing he is already...already..."  
"Terrified." Ozzie says in a low voice.  
"Well you could say that. But if he is terrified of you, then why do you think this is a good idea?"  
"I'm not saying that this is a sure-fire plan, but I think if I gently approach him, I can connect with him."  
"Ozzie I really don't know about this." Verne says disappointed.  
"Do any of you think I can do this?"  
Penny speaks up. "Ozzie I understand what you are trying to do, but I don't think you are going about it the right way."  
Ozzie glances at RJ.  
"Sorry Ozzman, but I have to stick with Verne on this one."  
"Excuse me, but can I speak?" Jessica speaks up.  
"Jessica you are a part of this family now. Of course you can speak."  
"Thank you. I just have to say that when Ozzie first told me what he did to Alex, I was quite shocked. But after getting to know him, I learned that he is a really nice guy. I know he feels remorse about what he did. Ozzie I think if you go and try to connect with him, he might overcome his fear of you. I really do believe in you."  
After Jessica's support, the whole log falls silent. Moments later Penny speaks up. "What do you say Verne?"  
Verne hesitates for a second. "Ozzie I've known you for a long time, and she is right. You are very trust worthy and I support you. I don't just think you can do this, I know you can."  
RJ stands. "I second that!"  
Lou stands up. "I do too." Soon the whole family was in agreement, except Heather who remained quiet.  
Ozzie puts his hand on her shoulder. "Well Heather, do you trust me." Heather remained silent. "This isn't at all for me, this is for you. I'll only go if it is OK with you."  
Heather sighs. "OK dad, I trust you. Please bring him back."

With that said Ozzie staggers towards the brush. "Heather, where did you last see him walk off?"  
Heather points. "Over that way."  
Ozzie turns and limps in the direction Heather pointed out. The family couldn't help but notice his obvious pain.  
Verne stops Ozzie again. "Ozzie are you sure you want to do this? We all see how much pain you are in and..."  
"Verne, no matter how much pain I am in, I have to do this. I must fix what I have broken, for my daughter. I promise I will be back soon." Ozzie turns towards the forest again and begins the search.  
The whole family was astonished at Ozzie's dedication. Especially Jessica who began experiencing feelings for Ozzie, that she never felt for anyone in her life.


	15. Remorse versus Deep Hatred

Remorse versus Deep Hatred

Ozzie's determination to set things straight with Heather helps him overcome his pain and drive on with the search for Alex. But even with the families support, Ozzie remains unsure of the outcome. Less than two miles ahead, Alex sits on a log confused, anxious, saddened, and angered about Heather. Even with the heat of summer and the birds singing in the trees, Alex felt cold and alone. Over and Over he tried to repeat the argument in his head in an effort to find out what went wrong. Eventually his anger leads him to the conclusion that everything was Ozzie's fault. Consumed with anger, Alex picks up a rock and tosses it with all of his might at an innocent blue jay singing in the tree. Before the rock could make contact, the blue jay swoops off of the branch and disappears into the forest. Alex was consumed with even more anger, but the sight of the blue jay's feathers reminds him of Heathers eyes. Alex lies back on the log and closes his eyes. "Someone please help me." Alex says as he dozes off in the hot summer sun.

An hour and a half passed since Ozzie left to search for Alex. By this time the sun was directly overhead so Ozzie decides to sit down for a rest in the shade of a large tree. "It is way too hot out here today." While Ozzie tries to cool down, he begins to wonder if convincing Alex to come back is even possible. "Even if I can get close enough to him, what am I going to say? What if he runs off when I find him, I won't be able to catch him. What if I don't find him? What will Heather think of me if I don't bring him back? What if...NO!" Ozzie hops to his feet. "AAAHHHH." Quickly reminded of his pain, he drops to his knees. Again Ozzie tries to stand, but this time with more caution. "I will find him, for Heather and the rest of the family." With that said Ozzie continues his painfully slow search. After five minutes, Ozzie gathers his strength and shouts at the top of his lungs. "ALEX ARE YOU THERE? IT'S ME OZZIE! I'M NOT HERE TO HURT YOU, I JUST WANT TO TALK!" Ozzie listens, but no response. He repeats himself, but again no response so Ozzie moves on repeating this routine every five minutes or so.

About an hour more of slow searching passes and Ozzie begins to lose hope. He stops to calls out again, but doesn't bother listening for a response. Little did Ozzie know, Alex is curled up in a soft patch of grass sleeping, just close enough to Ozzie to hear him shout his name in the distance. Alex slowly opens his eyes and raises his head at the sound of his name. He quickly stretches and stand up to listen closely. "Hmm...Probably just a dream..." He hears someone shout again. "ALEX ARE YOU THERE? IT'S ME OZZIE..." Without bothering to listen to Ozzie, Alex sprints blindly through the forest in disbelief, fear, and confusion. "Why is he following me? Well that doesn't matter because he won't catch...AAAAAARRRGGGGHHHHH!" Alex was so focused on getting away from Ozzie, he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Without warning Alex's left foot inadvertently gets stuck between to branches on the forest floor, but the force of him running at full speed causes his foot to bend much further than it was supposed to. The pain instantly brings Alex to his knees. Ozzie quickly recognized his voice and tried to move as fast as he could in the direction he heard him screaming. "What the heck is that...?

As seconds went by, the pain becomes more and more unbearable. Alex begins to take very deep breaths and starts to shake. Soon Ozzie arrives frantically searching for the source of the loud yell. "WHO'S OUT THERE? WHO YELLED? ARE YOU OK?" Ozzie calls out.  
Alex sits up and tries to drag himself into a bush to hide, but he couldn't help but yell out again. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"  
Ozzie looks up and sees him on the ground. He begins to walk over to him overjoyed, but as he gets closer he can visibly see Alex is in deep distress. "Alex it's you, I really need to..."  
Alex yells out with all of his anger. "You stay away from me, this is your fault."  
"But Alex I..."  
"Stay away!" Alex shouts.  
"What's wrong with you..." Ozzie sees Alex's left foot bent out of place making him cringe at the sight. "Your leg! Wha...What one Earth happened?" Ozzie asks trying to reach out to Alex.  
"Why did you follow me? I don't want to see you ever again."  
"I was looking for you because my daughter really wants to see you again. I'm not here to hurt you." Ozzie tries to explain.  
Alex drags himself to a tree and sits up. Ozzie again reaches out to Alex, but again he angrily refuses. "I said stay away! Why don't you just leave me alone? Or have you come to attack me again?"  
"I didn't come here to harm you at all. I know what I did before was..."  
"Why should I trust you now?"  
"Hmmm..." Ozzie lets out a deep sigh. He closes his eyes for a moment then walks over to a nearby stump and sits down less than fifteen feet from Alex. The two sit staring at each other in absolute silence for a solid five minutes. Nothing else in the world seemed to matter.  
After what seemed like an eternity Alex speaks up. "Why don't you just leave me here?"  
"There is no way I'm going to leave you here like this."  
"I don't care what you say. I will never trust you again. I don't know what I was thinking when I first saw you."  
"Alex I...Look I...huh...I am not going to leave you out here by yourself like this." Ozzie says in a worried voice. "I know what I did was wrong, but like I said before in the log I am truly committed to peace. Please, Please let me help you."  
Alex struggles to sit up. The blistering summer heat combined with his pain was taking a toll on his judgement and self-control. Alex yells with all of his anger at the top of his lungs. "No, I've been betrayed twice already. Not again, not a third time. Even if that means I have to fight YOU. I WILL GET REVENGE!"

At the sight of Alex preparing to fight while in incredible pain makes Ozzie realize how much hatred Alex has towards him. He glances at his feet and sees a sharp stick, then looks back up at Alex. His ears shoot straight up as an idea pops into his head. Ozzie lets out another deep sigh and prepares to make a gutsy move. He stands up, grabs the sharp stick and begins walking slowly over to Alex. Alex uses the tree to help him stand on his one good foot and puts his guard up, bracing for a fight. "This ends here". Alex says. As soon as Ozzie gets close enough, he holds up the sharp end of the stick directly at Alex. Alex closes his eyes and braces himself for more pain, but it never comes aside from his already existing pain. He slowly opens his eyes to see Ozzie holding the stick out to him. Ozzie slowly reaches out and gently places his hand on Alex's chest. Ozzie can feel Alex's heart beating rapidly.

Ozzie speaks in a calm voice. "Alex I just want you to know that my daughter, the rest of the family, and I love you very much. I told you before that I would do what ever it takes to make this up to you, but if you really are filled with this much hate, then take this and hit me as hard as you can. I won't fight back or even move, you have my word."  
Alex is completely speechless.  
Ozzie smiles at him "Go on Alex."  
Without saying a word Alex slowly takes the sharp stick from Ozzie's hand and drops it in the grass. With his back against the tree he sluggishly sits back down in a pile of his own shame and confusion. Ozzie sits right next to him and puts his hand on Alex's shoulder. "Look Alex, I told you before that I was very sorry for what I've done. You didn't deserve what I did to you at all and I completely overreacted. I fully understand if you don't forgive me for as long as I live, but please don't take your anger out on Heather. I think you two are perfect for each other."  
After a moment of silence, Alex clears his throat and speaks up. "I feel so terrible about yelling at her. I really wish I could take it back, but it's probably too late. I don't think she will ever want to speak to me again."  
Ozzie grabs his hand and smiles. "You're wrong. I have never seen Heather showing so much emotion for anything. I could tell from her eyes and the desperation in her voice that she loves you very much and she wants you back."  
"You really think so?"  
"I know so."  
"Why did you attack me anyway?" Alex asks.  
"Listen, I promise when we get back I will tell you what a huge mistake I made, but your leg is in really bad shape and we need to get back." Ozzie explains.  
"I can't go anywhere, it hurts really bad."  
Ozzie stops for a moment. After a short hesitation he struggles to stand up. "You are going to have to ride on my back."  
Alex looks at Ozzie confused. "Aren't you still hurt? You can barely stand up straight yourself."  
"I will do anything to make Heather happy, and to help a family member. Now come on, we need to get you back to the log."  
"I don't think I can, the pain is getting worse."  
Ozzie turns his back to Alex and kneels down. "I need you gather all of the strength you have and climb on my back."  
"I don't think I can..."  
"Think about Heather. I know you really care about her, now try."  
Alex grits his teeth and gathers what little strength he has left to pull himself onto Ozzie's back.  
"Whoa...jeez! You're a little heavier than I thought." Ozzie says trying to stay balanced. "OK let's get moving."  
As Ozzie begins the trek back, Alex can no longer ignore his pain and he gradually begins to lose consciousnesses. He rests his head on Ozzie's upper back and hangs on as best he could. Just before he closes his eyes he whispers to himself. "I'm coming Heather, I love you very much."  
"You say something Alex?" Ozzie hears no response. "Alex?" Ozzie realizes that he passed out so he stops for a moment and hoists Alex further up on his back to prevent him from falling off. "Just hang in there Alex, we'll be back at the log soon. You hang in there too Heather."

Ozzie continues the long journey back to the log. At this point the only thing keeping this adult male possum going at this point was the love for his daughter.

After about an hour and a half, Alex begins to wake up, only to be greeted by aching pain from his leg and the sound of Ozzie panting. He soon speaks up. "Are you OK?"  
Ozzie truthfully was exhausted, dehydrated and overheated, but he was still determined to get Alex back to safety. "Sure, it's just a little hot. Nothing I can't handle."  
Alex settles back down, closes his eyes, and begins to think about everything that has happened. After about ten minutes an unexpected question pops into Alex's head. Without expecting any harm he asks anyway. "Do you mind if I ask a question?"  
"No, what's up?"  
"What was your mate like?"

Ozzie stops dead in his tracks and drops to his knees. The question feels like a dagger in his heart.

To be continued...


	16. Explanation and Promises

Explanation and Promises

"What was your mate like?" A question that seemed relatively harmless to Alex, causes Ozzie to stop dead in his tracks and drops to his knees. The question feels like a dagger in his heart. Alex loses his grip and falls on his bent foot, causing him to yell out in pain. Ozzie tries to hold strong, and not focus on his wife's death. Quickly regaining focus he notices that Alex is rolling around on the ground in pain.

Ozzie quickly scurries over to Alex. "Ohh noo...I...uh...I didn't mean to...Are you OK?"  
Alex continues to roll around in the dirt, gritting his teeth trying to cope with the pain.  
Ozzie places his hand on Alex's chest to try and calm him down. As soon as he calms down Ozzie gently drags him to a tree and sits him up. "Alex I didn't mean to drop you...I...I just..."  
Alex just stares at him silently trying to make sense of what just happened.  
"Alex please say something!"  
Alex looks into Ozzie's eyes and thinks about the question he just asked. Realizing that he has never seen Ozzie with a mate, he amuses that she may have left him years ago. He quickly looks away. "I'm sorry I asked that question, I was just..."  
"**sigh** Alex don't be sorry. I just...I just didn't expect anyone to ask me that. " Ozzie kneels down beside him.  
Alex looks back at Ozzie and sees that he is clearly exhausted. "Are you sure you are OK? I mean you fell and..."  
"No...I ummm..." Ozzie says nervously. "Don't worry about me Alex, it's just really hot today and I needed a rest." Ozzie tries to ignore the memories of his wife to stay focused.  
"Oh. OK."  
Ozzie turns his back to Alex. "Alright, try to get on my back again. I don't think we have that much further to go."  
Alex looks at Ozzie and hesitates  
"Come on then."  
Alex felt guilty about putting Ozzie through all of this pain to help him, but he knew Ozzie wouldn't leave him on his own. "OK." Alex grits his teeth and hoists himself onto Ozzie's back.  
"Are you on tight enough?" Ozzie asks as he begins moving forward again.  
"I think so." Alex rests his head on Ozzie's back and tries to fall asleep.

While Alex holds on to Ozzie in the hot summer sun, Ozzie continues to think about his wife. Soon after, he decides to tell Alex about his wife, hoping to explain why he is so protective towards Heather.

"Hey Alex, you awake?" Ozzie asks.  
After a moment of silence Alex speaks up. "Kinda. Are we there yet?"  
"No, but before we get there I need to talk to you about something."  
"About what?"  
"Well...pretty much why I..." Ozzie hesitated. "Why I attacked you earlier."  
"You don't have to..."  
"No Alex! What I did was unacceptable, but I really need to explain to you what I was feeling at the time. Heather is very important to me and no matter what, I will do anything to assure her safety. I am sorry to say that when I first saw you I really didn't trust you at all."  
"Why?" Alex asks confused.  
"Because I knew that Heather would immediately fall for you, and I was inclined to do what ever it took to keep you away from her. I know it might seem extreme, but Heather means the world to me and..."  
"I understand, you are her..."  
"No you don't understand Alex." There was a long silence. "Before Heather was born, was a woman named Katherine. We loved each other very much, and life just seemed so perfect. Before we knew it she was pregnant. I was nervous at first about being a father, but as time went on I became more and more excited. Not long after the moment of truth came. Heather was born, and I was overcome with joy, but..." There is another long pause. "...that joy didn't last long. Moments after Heather's birth my beloved wife died in extreme pain."  
Alex was surprised at Ozzie's tragic story. "Why are you telling me this?" Alex says in a low voice.  
"Ever since I lost my wife, I vowed to protect Heather with my life until the day I die. Alex I am telling you this because I need you to understand the sacrifice I made because of Heather. I need you to promise me that if you are going to be her mate, that you will protect her with all of YOUR life."  
Alex hesitates a little. "I...I...I will."  
"Thank you Alex, I completely trust you."  
"I won't let you down." Alex says in a low shaky voice.

Ozzie continues to march on, while Alex hangs on trying to sleep. The only thing he could focus on now was Ozzie's tragic story, which completely changed his perspective on Ozzie. By now the heat and the constant pain in his left leg were began to take their toll on Alex's energy. He began shaking trying to keep his grip. Ozzie notices and begins to pick up the pace. "Hang in there Alex we are not far now."


	17. Misunderstandings

Misunderstandings

The thought of Heather is now the only thing that keeps Ozzie from collapsing from exhaustion on this hot summer's day. As much as he tries to resist, he can't help but imagine what life would have been like if Katherine were still alive. Suddenly he hears Jessica's voice nearby. "Ozzie, you have to move on..." Ozzie stops and frantically looks around trying to find Jessica, while holding onto Alex who is fast asleep. "Jessica is that you?" Ozzie calls out. After a moment, Ozzie begins to realize that he might be hearing things. "Am I going crazy? I swear I heard her voice...it was so vivid." Ozzie closes his eyes and listens, but only hears the forest ambiance. Soon he slowly opens his eyes and begins walking again. By now he realizes that Jessica's voice was all in his head, but the words continued to circulate in his mind.

About fifteen minutes later...

He slows down and sniffs the air to determine his location. After a few seconds, he lifts his nose higher and sniffs the air again. "Hmmm. These trees look familiar...I think." Ozzie begins to smile. "I know where I am. This is where I usually go for a walk." Ozzie takes a deep breath, gathers what little strength he has left and begins the last of his exhausting journey. "Just hang in there Alex, not much longer and you can rest comfortably...I hope."

A few minutes pass by when Ozzie hears the sound of the porcupine triplets laughing. Ozzie shakes Alex. "Finally...Alex wake up!" Alex snaps out of his almost hypnotic sleep and is immediately overcome with pain. He begins to grit his teeth and breathe heavily.  
"Just hang in there for a few more minutes..."  
"Just drop me here!" Alex says as he grips Ozzie tightly to try and cope with the pain.  
Ozzie hunches over. "Please don't do that, just hang in there! I promise our family is just on the other side of that bush!"  
Alex loosens his grip, closes his eyes and focuses on getting back to Heather.

As Ozzie comes through the bushes, he sees that the family was still sitting together at the meeting area talking amongst each other, visibly worried. It didn't take long for them to notice the two and they immediately rushed over to help Ozzie. Everyone is surprised to see how exhausted Ozzie is. Ozzie is so relieved to see the family he drops to his knees and gently drops Alex on a soft patch of grass.

"OZZIE ARE YOU OK?..you look terrible!" RJ yells out.  
"I'm fine, Alex..." Ozzie tries desperately to regain his breath.  
"I am so glad you are back, and with Alex..." Verne says patting Ozzie on the back.  
"No...Alex..."  
"We see..." Penny points out.  
"Dad, thank you so much...I cannot tell you how thankful I am..." Heather shouts.  
"No...His leg...he needs your help!" Ozzie points to Alex's leg while still trying to catch his breath.  
The family looks at Alex and begins to notice that he is in deep distress.  
Stella tries to get him to relax. "Alex what is wrong with...Oh my goodness!" The whole family gasps at the site of Alex's bent leg. Then they all look at Ozzie with their eyes wide open. Soon after, Ozzie realizes that they believe he did this.  
"Ozzie, I cant believe you would..." Verne shouts.  
"Wait...No I promise to all of you I didn't..." Ozzie pleads.  
"DAD!" Heather runs over to Ozzie and shoves him as hard as she could.  
Ozzie, having no strength to resist, falls over in the dirt. He looks into her fiery eyes. "Heather, just listen...I promise you I didn't..." Ozzie sees tears coming from her eyes as she kicks him. Just before she kicks him again, Stella and Jessica quickly grab Heather and pulls her back.  
"Guys you have to believe me..." Ozzie continues to plead.  
"How could you? You promised me you wouldn't hurt him ever again!" Heather shouts.  
"Everyone stop!" Verne commanded. He walks over and kneels down beside Alex and holds his hand. "Ok Alex, try and calm down."  
Alex's begins to settle down. Heather shakes loose from Jessica and Stella and runs over to Alex.  
"Ok, just tell us what happened." Verne says softly.  
Alex hesitates for a few seconds, then slowly sits up.  
Jessica walks over to Ozzie and helps him sit up on the soft grass.  
"Just tell us..." Verne Asks.  
"Did he do this to you?" Heather points at Ozzie.  
"No no...you guys have it all wrong." Alex says trying to roll onto his stomach.  
"What do you mean?" Heather asks.  
"I was walking all alone thinking of you Heather. I was just so sad that I yelled at you, and I felt so lonely. Then I heard your dad calling out. I was so afraid of him that I started running as fast as I could. I wasn't paying attention, and I tripped. That's when I twisted my leg. I know I said bad things about your dad before, but I truly owe him. I told him to leave, but he stayed. He...AAAGGGGHHhh" Alex yells out in pain. "The point is he saved me..."  
"Alex if he really did this to you, you don't have to..."  
Alex grabs Heathers hand. "I promise you Heather, he saved me."  
The family looks over at Ozzie relieved. Jessica, still sitting beside him, gives him a soft hug. "I knew you didn't hurt him."  
"I really didn't. See Heather, I did this for you, because I love you."  
"Guys come on we need to help Alex, now." Verne shouts.

While the family tries to help Alex, Heather slowly walks over to Ozzie and sits in front of him looking at the ground. Jessica notices that the two need to be alone so she walks away. "I'll just leave you two be."

Heather remains silent for a few moments before she finally speaks up. "Dad...I am so sorry I...I..." She slowly looks up at him and is surprised to see him smiling back at her.  
Ozzie softly laughs, then coughs in slight pain. "You know Heather; you are much stronger than I thought." He reaches out and pulls her closer. "That definitely makes me confident that you are a strong young lady. A strong young lady, who definitely doesn't need her dad to shadow her all the time."  
Heather remained silent, completely confused as to why he wasn't mad. After a few tense seconds, she drops to her knees and buries her face in his chest.  
"Heather look up. I want don't want my daughter to be sad."  
Heather looks into his eyes.  
"Come on big girl, smile."  
"Dad no I can't..."  
Ozzie's smile gets bigger. "I know you want to smile."  
"Dad please don't...I..."  
Ozzie pokes Heathers stomach, her ticklish spot.  
Heather couldn't help but laugh. "Daaad stop it." giggling  
"You are going to have to smile more than that." Ozzie says still poking Heather.  
Heather was now laughing uncontrollably. "Daaaad...Daaadd please stop..OK OK! Heather leans forward and kisses Ozzie.  
Ozzie looks back at her and points to the whole family gently moving Alex towards the log. "Look Heather, he is a part of our family now. I love you very much Heather. But right now, Alex needs you. Don't worry about me I'm just tired. Now run along Heather and help him."  
Heather gives him one more hug and runs over to comfort Alex. "I love you daddy."  
"I love you too Heather."

Ozzie was overcome with joy, for the first time in the past few day she could rest easy knowing that everything was OK. While he watches the family moving towards the log, he notices Jessica glancing at him. He tries to smile at her, but she quickly looks away with a poorly hidden smile. Ozzie then remembers how much help Jessica has been. Without her help and positive encouragement, the outcome of the situation could have been radically different. He decides to thank her for all that she has done.

Ozzie manages to stand up and call out. "Hey Jessica!"  
Jessica looks back over at him and starts giggling on the inside.  
"Come here, I really need to talk to you."  
"Uhh...OK. I'll be right back guys"  
"No worries Jessica, we've got this. Take your time." RJ says  
While Jessica walked over to Ozzie, she began smiling uncontrollably and her legs became shaky. "What is this feeling?" She whispered to herself.  
As soon as she gets close, Ozzie grabs both of her hands.  
Her smile gets bigger and she begins giggling.  
"What's so funny? Why do you always start laughing when I look at you?" Ozzie asks trying to laugh with her.  
Jessica tries to stop laughing. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry, your hands are just really warm. I'm just a little ticklish." Jessica tries to quickly change the subject. She began trembling nervously. By now she was completely overcome with new and confusing feelings. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"  
"Jessica, I really wanted to thank you for all that you have done for me. You could have easily passed me by the first time we met, but you stayed and helped me. I am forever grateful."  
Jessica remains silent, remembering RJ's question. "Do you love Ozzie?" Now she completely understands her feelings. Softly, she whispers "I love you."  
Ozzie takes a step back still smiling. "Sorry, did you say something?"  
"Oh...I just said your welcome."  
"You know you have a beautifully bright smile Jessica." Ozzie says still trying to thank her.  
Jessica closes her eyes and thinks to herself. "I love him. I LOVE HIM, AND HE LOVES ME!" Her heart was racing. She slowly opens her eyes again.  
Ozzie leans forward. "Are you ok Jessica, it is really hot and I think you should..."

Before Ozzie could finish, Jessica lunges forward and presses her lips against Ozzie's. He is stunned by her sudden, impulsive display of love. Completely overcome by exhaustion and confusion, he has no strength to push her away. Jessica is still holding onto him as tight as she could, when she slowly opens her eyes and sees him uncomfortably trying to step away from her.

"Ozzie are you..?"  
"No, GET AWAY FROM ME!" Ozzie shouts  
"Ozzie what wrong...I mean I..." Jessica looks down and begins to realize what she had done. She looks back up with a sheepish smile. "Ozzie don't you love me?"  
"How could you...what...love...where is this...NO!" Ozzie shouts again wiping his mouth.  
Jessica couldn't believe what she was hearing. She began crying. "I thought you loved...I mean you were always..." Jessica tries to step forward and grab Ozzie's hand, but he pushes her hand away and backs up.  
The two sit just feet from each other staring in complete silence. Jessica drops to her knees. Ozzie stands back trying to make sense of the whole situation. After a few seconds, Jessica staggers to her feet and starts to walk off. She looks back at Ozzie one last time, then continues on...sobbing. Ozzie still completely confused whispers just as she disappears through the bushes "_Come back Jessica_." He gathers his strength and tries to go after her, but just as he takes the first few steps the whole world suddenly becomes hazy. He falls on the ground and everything starts going blurry. Trying to gather his strength he calls for help, but before he can take another breath he passes out; still thinking about Jessica. The adult opossum could no longer resist the heat and exhaustion.

Meanwhile at the log, the family tries to comfort Alex, completely unaware of what was happening to either Ozzie or Jessica. Stella decides to go get Alex some water, but stepping out of the log she sees Jessica sobbing, trying to run tripping over everything in her path. Stella runs after her fearing the worse. "What is going on around here?


	18. Reflection

Reflections

Not wasting anytime, Stella took off after Jessica. Stella tried grabbing her, but Jessica resisted. "Please just let me go!" Jessica pleads desperately trying to shake loose.  
"What is wrong with you? You were just fine a few seconds ago. Please just calm down and tell me what's wrong." Stella pleaded  
Jessica tries to pull away again, but she was so devastated by Ozzie's reaction to her feelings, she drops to her knees.  
Stella kneels down beside her and wraps her arm around Jessica's shoulder to comfort her "Look at me Jessica, I can help you. You just have to tell me what's wrong. Just take a second to calm down."  
Jessica tries to calm herself down, but as soon as she seems to regain control, Ozzie appears in her mind and she breaks down again.  
Stella couldn't bear to see her in so much pain, so she pulls Jessica closer and gives her a soft hug to try and comfort her.  
Feeling somewhat better, she starts to settle down. "What on earth was I thinking?"  
"Please tell me what happened. Did Ozzie do something to you?"  
Jessica was still breathing heavily. "Yeah he...well no I...Arghhh! I just..."  
"Jessica please calm down...Just take some deep breaths, and settle down."  
Jessica closes her eyes and clears her mind, but the image of Ozzie still looms in her mind.  
"Ok now, just try to relax and tell me what happened."  
Jessica remains silent for a few moments, but she finally begins to tell Stella about what happened between her and Ozzie. "Well to make a long story short. Just now, when I went over to go talk to him, I began experiencing feelings I have never felt for anyone before. He grabbed my hand and...I was just overcome with so much emotion." Jessica's eyes begin to well up again. She looks directly at Stella. "He is just so passionate and sweet. I LOVE HIM" Jessica shouts.  
Stella looks away not knowing what to think.  
Jessica grows a very small smile. "Just the thought of him makes my heart race. His beautiful fur. His beautiful blue eyes. His..."  
"OK OK. I understand you have deep feelings for him, but what happened with him? Why are you crying?"  
Jessica pauses again. "Well, he got really close to me and I just...Why did I do that? Im so stupid!"  
"Do what, What did you do?" Stella asks impatiently  
"I couldn't control my feelings, and I just wanted to be closer to him so I kissed him." Jessica stops for a few seconds, then speaks softly. "He just didn't take it the way I thought he would."  
"Oh my..." Stella puts her arm over Jessica's shoulder. "Listen Jessica, this is...This is a little bit difficult. I've known him for a while, and he is very sweet, but after his wife... You do know what happened to his wife right?"  
"Yeah he told me before...I just...I told him that he should move on. I was trying to get him to move on so he would stop being so miserable, But as I got to know him more and more I just..."  
"Like I said Jessica, this is something that is very difficult to deal with. Don't get me wrong, I think he should move on too but I don't think another love is something he is looking for right now. Who knows maybe that is what he needs, but you really cant spring something on him like that."  
"Yeah I guess."  
"Especially considering how stressful these past few days have been." Stella hugs Jessica to comfort her. "Tell you what, I'll help you with this. I can't promise that I can get him to lighten up to the idea, but I...I mean we can definitely try.  
Jessica looks down and sighs "I still feel terrible about it, I mean how can something that feels so right, be so wrong."  
"Hmmm..." Stella giggles lightly. "Love is...Love is very different from anything you might try to work towards. It's like a force between two people that...This is tough. It's hard to explain exactly what love is, but you get my point right."  
"I guess." Jessica agrees  
"It'll be fine, just give it some time. I'll go see what Ozzie's up to." Stella says standing up.  
"Ok then. Thank you for comforting me."  
"It's no problem, your family. I'll leave you alone for a little while, just try to focus on something else."

With that said, Stella heads over to Ozzie knowing that Jessica was still focused on him. After a short walk, she arrives where she last saw him.

Stella begins to call out to Ozzie. "OZZIE, WHERE ARE YOU?" After a few seconds she calls out again. "OZZIE!" After a moment she leans against a tree, disappointed. "Great now I have to go find him. Where could he have gone now...What is that?" Stella notices a patch of white fur sticking out of some grass. She quickly walks over towards it and notices that it is Ozzie. "Oh thank goodness I found you. Get up we need to talk." Stella became confused and started to shake him "Are you asleep?" She quickly realizes that something isn't right. She hops up and runs towards the log to get help. "What on earth is going on around here?"

At that moment, RJ steps out of the log trying to find out what was taking Stella so long. Just as he prepares to shout her name he sees her running at him.

"There you are, where is the..."  
"Nevermind that we need to go help Ozzie."  
"Help Ozzie. What's going on now?" RJ asks  
"I think he passed out or something. He is still breathing, but he isn't moving."  
"Dang, well what do you want me to do?" RJ asks confused  
"Run over to the meeting area, Im going to get Verne."  
RJ sighs. "Huh fine"  
"Hey Verne! Come out here quick." Stella shouts  
"Im coming, just give me a sec."  
"No NOW!" Stella shouts louder.  
"What's going on now?" Verne asks concerned.  
"It's Ozzie, just come. Quick!"

The three run over to where Ozzie is passed out as quickly as they can. Rj is shocked to see Ozzie in his condition.

"Dang it Ozzman, what's wrong now?" RJ said confused  
Stella finally catching up "Alright come on we need to get him out of this heat."  
Verne places his hand on Ozzie's head. "He's burning up. He must have passed out from heat exhaustion. Let's get him back to the log. RJ, you pick him up by his shoulder. Stella help me pick him up by his legs. "  
The three carefully lift him up.  
"OK, quickly but carefully let's move." Stella whispers. "Just hang in there Ozzie!"  
During the short walk RJ speaks up to break the dismal atmosphere."He sure has been through alot lately, im surprised he's held it together for so long."  
"We've all been through alot lately RJ, but us sticking together as a family has kept us strong." Verne says staying optimistic.  
"Hmmm..." Stella thinks to herself. "Ironic you should say that, when you were the one wanting to evict him.

As they approached the log, RJ notices Stella's dismal expression.  
"Cheer up Stella. Just remember what Verne said, we are in this together."  
"Yeah...I guess. It's just been so much happening lately. Let's just hurry up and get him in the log.

Arriving at the entrance to the log, they cautiously move Ozzie inside. The rest of the family quickly notices him, and they are shocked to see Ozzie in such bad condition. Heather immediately jumps from Alex's side and runs over to her father.

"Oh my goodness what happened to him?" Heather cried.  
"Put him down slowly." Stella says, carefully trying to shift his weight onto the ground right next to Alex.  
"Try to relax Heather, he probably just passed out from the heat." RJ says.  
"Is he going to be OK?" Heather asks.  
RJ turns and smiles at Heather "Im sure he will Heather. Your dad is very strong. Just stay with him, and Im sure he will be much better soon."  
Alex stared at Ozzie shocked and confused, while the log goes silent.  
After a minute or two RJ speaks up. "Ok what's next?"  
Stella remembers that Jessica was still out on her own, so she hops to her feet and exits the log. "I need to go see Jessica, I'll be back soon."  
"No wait...uhh... Never mind" RJ tries to stop Stella  
Soon after stella leaves, everyone looks back at Verne. "What now?"Penny asks  
Verne closes his eyes for a second trying to clear his mind. Verne opens his eyes again and looks back at the family, then down at Alex's leg. He looks back at Heather then down at Alex's leg, then he comes to a terrible realization. He knew that in order for Alex's leg to heal back properly, he would have to bend it back into place. Verne also knew that it would be a very painful and slow process. He clears his throat. _Ahem_ "I really don't want to do this, but there is something urgent we need to do and I really need you all to trust me."  
"What is it Verne?" Hammy asks hesitantly.  
Verne turns to Alex. "Alex I know you are in alot of pain right now, but you must understand that the only way for your leg to heal properly is for us to bend it carefully back into place."  
"WHAT? Is that going to hurt even more than it does now?" Alex shouts in fear.  
"Yes, probably quite a bit more..."  
Heather runs over and stands between them. "Nooo, you can't do that to him!"  
"Heather, it's the only way." Verne looks back at the family.  
"Isn't there any other way?"  
Verne sighs. "Unfortunately no."  
RJ looks over at Alex. "Alex, I'm sorry but we only have two options here. Bend your leg back, or leave it and risk it staying like that forever."  
Alex silently stares back at everyone, heart racing.  
"It's up to you." Verne says.  
Alex looks at Heather "What do you want me to do?"  
Heather takes a deep breath. "Im here for you Alex, and I will always be."  
After a brief moment of silence, Alex nods his head in agreement. "Alright, let's do this."  
"You go Alex!" One of the triplets yells out in excitement.  
"Penny, get them out of here!" Verne says.  
"Ok Ok!"  
Verne prepares himself. "Alright now, RJ you and me will bend it back. The rest of you hold his hands to comfort him."

As everyone moves into position, Heather kisses Alex. "Just hang in there, I know you can do it." Silently Alex nods.

"Alright Alex, are you ready?" Verne Asks  
Alex grips everyone's hands and grits his teeth. He tries to close his eyes, but he cant help looking into Heather's eyes.  
"Alright here we go."

Without looking at his leg, Heather feels Alex's grip grow incredibly tight. Heather places her hand on his heart and feels it beating rapidly. She looks back at his eyes and sees tears beginning to flow from them. "Hang in there man, you're doing good." Lou says. Heather holds him as tight as she could. For Alex, this felt like an eternity, but before long it seemed to be over. "Ok RJ STOP stop...that'll have to do." Verne commands.  
RJ quickly hops up and grabs Alex's hand. "How you holding up bud?" RJ looks at him and sees he is obviously in agony.  
Just the sight of Alex and her dad in such bad condition makes her want to cry.  
Verne get's up. "Alright give them some room guys." Right as everyone starts to back away. "No Heather, you need to stay with them." He then looks over at Alex. "You are very brave Alex, hang in there and it will all be over soon enough." Verne says smiling at Alex.  
Alex remained silent breathing heavily. Tears were still coming out of his eyes, while the seemingly endless pain persisted. After a few minutes he succumbs to the pain and passes out. Heather puts her head on his chest listening to his heart beat.  
"Ok everyone, he'll be fine for now. He just needs some time to rest. We'll come back and check up on them in an hour." While the family slowly exits the log with dismal expressions, Verne walks over to Heather and gives her a hug. Even through his thick shell, she could feel his heart. "Are you OK Heather?"  
"Only if they are."  
"I know a lot has happened over the last few days. I just want to make sure that you know everything will be fine..."  
Heather stares at him silently.  
"You know your dad would always tell me about how strong you are, and from what I've witnessed I have no reason in my mind to doubt that. All of this is even a little too much for me. Yet I see you stand strong, right when life tries to knock you down. I know when you grow up, you're going to be a strong adult and I know your dad will be proud. He's proud of you now, and you know what..."  
Heather looks back at Verne "What?"  
"I know your mom is somewhere among the stars looking back down on you as proud as can be."  
Heather smiles back at Verne, then looks back at her dad. "That makes me feel alot better, I just wish I could do more for them."  
"You can Heather. Stay positive and stay by their side. Your dad was always there for you, now here is your chance to be there for him...and Alex. I'm going to go now, and I'll be back soon with some water for Ozzie."  
"Thanks Verne..."

With that said Verne exits the log. Heather looks back at the two and tries to think positively. After a moment, she moves over to her dad and rests her head on his chest, reflecting on all the good times they've had together. After a few minutes she dozes off...

To be continued...


End file.
